News & Commentary

The R.I. ACLU today hailed a decision issued by U.S. District Court Judge William Smith, holding unconstitutional the INS’ efforts to indefinitely detain without a hearing, pending deportation proceedings, an immigrant with a criminal record. The court held that inmate Errol Hall, who is from Jamaica but has lived in this country for 30 years, had to be provided an opportunity to show whether he is a flight risk or a danger to the community that justifies his continued detention after three years. ACLU executive director Steven Brown called the ruling a “welcome reminder of the important role the judiciary must play” in protecting our freedoms.

The ACLU of Rhode Island has called upon Providence Mayor David Cicilline and the City Council to reject a proposal, floated this past week to raise revenue for the city, of installing so-called “red light cameras” at various intersections in the city. In a two-page letter to City officials, R.I. ACLU executive director Steven Brown argued that installation of the cameras “raises troubling privacy and due process concerns,” and “erodes, in subtle ways, our basic rights and turns on its head the major rationale for traffic safety laws.” Excerpts from the ACLU’s letter appear below:

In the near-final chapter of a long-running ACLU “open records” lawsuit against the Providence Police Department, the R.I. Supreme Court has unanimously ruled that the City of Providence cannot charge the community group DARE (Direct Action for Rights and Equality) for the costs of providing copies of internal police misconduct reports. The Court has also ordered the City to pay the ACLU’s volunteer lawyers their attorneys’ fees dating back to the ACLU’s inception of the litigation in 1995.

In a major ACLU free speech case addressing the First Amendment and the Internet, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear oral arguments tomorrow, Wednesday morning, March 5th in the Bush Administration’s appeal of a Congressional law that would force libraries to deny adults and minors access to constitutionally protected speech online. One of the plaintiffs in this lawsuit filed by the National ACLU and others is a Rhode Island-based website, AfraidToAsk.com, which discusses sensitive health care issues. The R.I. Library Association has also filed a “friend of the court” brief in support of the ACLU’s position.

The ACLU of Rhode Island today filed a lawsuit in R.I. District Court on behalf of Jean Philippe Barros, a person of Cape Verdean descent who, the suit claims, was the victim of two incidents of racial profiling within a year by Scituate police. The suit, filed by ACLU volunteer attorney Thomas G. Briody, argues that the incidents violated Barros’ right to be free from unreasonable searches and seizures and to equal protection of the laws. The suit seeks unspecified damages and an injunction against the Town to prohibit any further harassment or detention of Barros without probable cause.

The ACLU of Rhode Island today filed a lawsuit in R.I. District Court on behalf of Jean Philippe Barros, a person of Cape Verdean descent who, the suit claims, was the victim of two incidents of racial profiling within a year by Scituate police. The suit, filed by ACLU volunteer attorney Thomas G. Briody, argues that the incidents violated Barros’ right to be free from unreasonable searches and seizures and to equal protection of the laws. The suit seeks unspecified damages and an injunction against the Town to prohibit any further harassment or detention of Barros without probable cause.