News & Commentary

UPDATE 10/20/18: The ACLU has sent a letter to the Mayor of Providence specifically addressing the issue of the protests taking place in front Richard Gardner's house.

It has been more than 72 hours since DaShawn Cole was killed by Pawtucket police, yet very basic information about this tragic incident remains undisclosed.   The names of the officers, how many shots were fired, the threat faced by the police at the time, even whether the victim fired any shots himself -- all of this remains unknown.  We assume – we hope – that this and related information will be released shortly, but the contrast between the belated sharing of information by police during officer-involved shootings and the much more free-flowing disclosure of information when serious civilian-upon-civilian crimes occur remains striking and totally unacceptable. In fact, similar secrecy disconcertingly shrouded the last fatal police shooting in Pawtucket in 2016.(1)

Citing concerns about the impact on veterans participating in Rhode Island’s medical marijuana program, three advocacy organizations have submitted testimony expressing strong opposition to a Department of Human Services proposal that would ban the use of “narcotics prohibited by federal law” at the Veterans’ Home in Bristol.  The organizations are the ACLU of RI, the RI Patient Advocacy Coalition and Protect Families First. The group testimony notes that, as currently worded, DHS’ proposal would prevent resident veterans from using medical marijuana that state law explicitly allows them to use for their medical condition.

The 2018 Legislative Session seemed like it should be the year of #MeToo, but when the General Assembly adjourned at the end of June with an exhausting Saturday session (that almost went into Sunday) they failed to approve legislation ensuring equal pay for equal work, or any of the bills that emerged from a commission tasked with helping address sex harassment in the workplace.

Reverting to a practice it had forsworn after the ACLU sued on behalf of Rhode Island resident Lilian Calderon, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials have said they may once again snatch and detain undocumented immigrants who show up for interviews with federal immigration officials to legalize their status. The revelation was made last week in a filing in Ms. Calderon’s lawsuit by a new ICE Interim Field Office Director in Boston, Rebecca Adducci.

Dozens of medical professionals and organizations working to stem the opioid crisis in Rhode Island today called on the state Senate to reject legislation sponsored by the Attorney General that would impose up to a life sentence on individuals who provide an unlawful controlled substance to a person that results in that person’s death, regardless of culpability. 

Four organizations have submitted a “friend of the court” brief in the RI Supreme Court in support of Governor Gina Raimondo’s appeal for the release of the grand jury records in the 38 Studios proceedings.  The organizations are the ACLU of RI, the RI Press Association, the New England First Amendment Coalition and Common Cause RI. The brief, submitted by ACLU cooperating attorneys and RWU Law School professors Jared A. Goldstein and Andrew Horwitz, argues that, in the case of 38 Studios, “the fundamental right of the people to know about the operations of their government” far outweighs any standards generally barring disclosure of grand jury proceedings.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Rhode Island, the R.I. Commission for Human Rights, and Rhode Island for Community and Justice today expressed concern about the latest results of a study finding racial disparities in traffic stops in the state, while expressing hope it would spur police departments to meaningfully tackle this persistent and troubling problem.

The ACLU has filed a class action lawsuit challenging the Trump administration’s pattern of separating married couples and families pursuing lawful immigration status. The lead plaintiff in the lawsuit is Rhode Island resident and mother Lilian Calderon, who was recently released from detention as the result of earlier ACLU court action.