News & Commentary

The American Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts has filed a habeas corpus petition asking a federal court to release Rhode Island resident Richard Hatch from jail in Barnstable County.  Mr. Hatch was arrested and is being held in jail for talking to members of the media about his tax evasion case without getting formal approval from the federal Bureau of Prisons.  The petition follows unsuccessful efforts by the Rhode Island ACLU to have the disciplinary charges against him dismissed.  Mr. Hatch gained notoriety for having won the first season of the television show "Survivor," and for the legal battle regarding his taxes that ensued.

The Rhode Island ACLU today announced the settlement of a federal lawsuit it filed last October against the Town of West Warwick, challenging on free speech grounds the enforcement of an ordinance that significantly limited the posting of political signs. The suit was filed by ACLU volunteer attorney Richard Sinapi on behalf of local resident Thomas K. Jones, who at the time was both a state legislative candidate and an outspoken critic of plans to develop a water park in the town.

Rhode Island ACLU executive director Steven Brown issued the following statement today in response to news reports that Richard Hatch was arrested and is being held in jail for talking to members of the media about his tax evasion case without getting formal approval from the federal Bureau of Prisons:

Calling the decision “unjust and erroneous,” the Rhode Island ACLU today filed a “friend of the court” brief urging reversal of a federal district court ruling that threw out a case against the Department of Children Youth and Families (DCYF) for the mistreatment of foster children in its care. The brief was filed in the U.S. Court of Appeals in Boston by RI ACLU volunteer attorneys Andrew Prescott and Steven Richard of the law firm of Nixon Peabody LLP.

In a case raising critical issues about the public’s right to know, The Barrington Times and the Rhode Island ACLU have today filed an Open Meetings Act (OMA) lawsuit against the Barrington School Committee for unlawfully meeting in closed session this past February to discuss the merits of instituting a mandatory breathalyzer policy for all students attending school dances. The school committee relied on the OMA’s “litigation” exemption to meet in private, but the lawsuit, filed by RI ACLU cooperating attorneys Howard Merten and Keith Fayan, notes that at the time of the executive session “there was no litigation pending or threatened” and “there was not even a specific policy in place that could have been challenged through litigation.”

Three organizations involved in patients’ rights issues issued a statement today supporting Rhode Island Hospital’s recent refusal to turn over private medical information about a patient to Providence Police officials. The statement from the groups – the R.I. Medical Society, the R.I. Disability Law Center and the R.I. ACLU – in response to the controversy follows below:

Michelle Langlois can use the Internet again to speak about her brother’s court case.

R.I. ACLU executive director Steven Brown issued the following statement today in recognition of the 30th anniversary of the R.I. Supreme Court decision in Traugott v. Petit, in which the ACLU successfully overturned a lower court ruling requiring married women to use their husband’s surname on their driver’s licenses:

Citing almost two decades’ worth of data showing significant racial disparities in the enforcement of traffic laws by the R.I. State Police (RISP), eight civil rights and community organizations have urged Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials not to give RISP the legal authority to enforce federal immigration law. RISP has sought such permission pursuant to the “immigration” executive order that Governor Carcieri issued last year.