News & Commentary

Imagine a school administrator telling a high school political science teacher that a whole range of timely topics – for example, medical marijuana, terrorism in the Middle East, gun control, or even politics in general – was off-limits for class discussion. The pedagogical absurdity of it – not to mention the upending of academic freedom it embodies – would seem obvious to most. In school districts across the country, however, a similar type of censorship takes place in the classroom every day, with little dissent.

“Political,” “hobbies,” “dictionary” and “news” are just four of the ‘filtered’ categories blocked by RI school districts’ Internet filtering systems.  This was one of the findings of a report on the status of Internet filtering in RI public schools released today by the ACLU. A follow-up to a 2013 analysis on the same issue, today’s report found that RI schools’ filtering systems continue to over-censor school Internet networks, hampering academic freedom and access to relevant educational information.  Importantly, the report also found that only two school districts – Cumberland and Exeter-West Greenwich – have adopted formal policies governing their use of Internet filters that complies with a 2016 law designed to promote academic freedom in the classroom.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Rhode Island today sued the Johnston Police Department on behalf of retired Detective James Brady, an 18-year veteran of the force, for violating his First Amendment rights. In his role as union president of Local #307 of the International Brotherhood of Police Officers (IBPO), Brady spoke to news media about a matter of public concern and was subsequently disciplined by the Department.  The suit filed today argues that Johnston Police Chief Richard Tamburini violated Brady’s free speech rights by suspending him without pay for two days for his comments, and that the policies under which Brady was disciplined are unconstitutionally vague.

It's possibly the most adorable banned book some children will never see. It's a story about love, family, and a fuzzy baby penguin whose parents have waited for her for years. Yet, And Tango Makes Three, the true story about a family of penguins at New York’s Central Park Zoo, has been among the top ten challenged books in the United States seven times (and was the most challenged book of the year for four of those times).

By Johanna Kaiser

In a brief filed today, the ACLU of Rhode Island has asked the Superior Court to reject a claim made by the R.I. Department of Corrections (DOC) that inmates serving life sentences at the ACI have no legal right to sue for any violation of their civil rights.  In a related letter sent today to Governor Gina Raimondo, the ACLU of RI also asked her to intervene and call upon the DOC to refrain from taking this position in future inmate civil rights lawsuits.

The ACLU of Rhode Island today announced the dismissal of charges against a group of Narragansett residents, landlords and businesses for violating a Town ordinance that bars more than four unrelated people from living together.  In a 23-page decision issued yesterday, Municipal Court Judge John DeCubellis, Jr. agreed that the ordinance violated plaintiffs’ due process and equal protection rights – as argued earlier this year by ACLU of RI cooperating attorney H. Jefferson Melish in a brief seeking dismissal of the charges.  The judge noted that in 1994, the R.I. Superior Court struck down as unconstitutional a nearly identical Narragansett ordinance and that efforts by the Town to distinguish it were unavailing.

In an important preliminary victory for First Amendment rights, U.S. District Court Chief Judge William Smith this morning issued a temporary restraining order against enforcement of the City of Cranston’s anti-panhandling ordinance. The order will remain in effect pending a future trial on the ACLU of Rhode Island’s challenge to the controversial ordinance. In issuing the order, the judge found that the ACLU had demonstrated an ultimate likelihood of success in its legal challenge.