News & Commentary

Many police departments across Rhode Island disproportionately arrest black individuals at rates that eclipse the racial disparity of arrests found in Ferguson, Missouri, newly reported data shows.

ACLU of Rhode Island executive director Steven Brown released the following the statement on the Rhode Island Traffic Stop Statistics Data Collection Study. The report includes data for all local police departments and State Police. It is available here.

This op-ed by ACLU of Rhode Island executive director Steven Brown appeared in The Providence Journal Friday, October 3, 2014.

Ten years after Rhode Island law began requiring police departments to post online their police complaint forms and procedures, some departments are still not in compliance with some of the law’s basic requirements, a report issued Wednesday by the American Civil Liberties Union of Rhode Island has found. The requirement, contained in the Racial Profiling Prevention Act of 2004, was designed to make it easier for victims of police misconduct to file complaints with departments. Over the years, some police officials have cited the rarity of complaints they receive to minimize claims about the prevalence of racial profiling or other misconduct.

Citizens for Responsible Government, a diverse and growing coalition of Rhode Island individuals and organizations including the American Civil Liberties Union of Rhode Island, has launched its campaign to defeat a Constitutional Convention. At a press conference in April, the coalition cited a number of reasons why they are opposed to a Constitutional Convention.

A report issued by the ACLU of Rhode Island today shows that Rhode Island’s public schools last year disproportionately suspended black students at the highest rates in nine years, while white students were suspended at record low rates. Like black children, Hispanic students remained severely over-suspended, with these disparities reaching all the way to the lowest grades. In addition, students generally – including elementary school children – were given out-of-school suspensions at alarming rates for minor disciplinary infractions.

Thirteen national organizations promoting equality of rights have called on Governor Lincoln Chafee to veto a bill that they say would be a clear violation of federal anti-discrimination laws, “diminish educational opportunities for boys and girls alike,” and expose “school districts to the risk of costly litigation.” Among the groups signing the letter were the National Coalition of Women and Girls in Education, National Women’s Law Center, American Association of University Women, ACLU Women’s Rights Project, Women’s Sports Foundation, and the National Council of Jewish Women. That request follows a separate veto letter submitted by three local organizations: the Women’s Fund of Rhode Island, the RI National Organization for Women, and the ACLU of Rhode Island.

The ACLU of Rhode Island issued a report today, analyzing eight years of data, showing that in all school districts across Rhode Island, black and Hispanic students are suspended at rates substantially higher than their representation in the student population, while white students are suspended much less often than their representation predicts. Worse, the disproportionate suspensions are often for minor behavioral infractions and begin in elementary school. The ACLU’s examination of school discipline data collected by the Rhode Island Department of Education between 2004 and 2012 also concluded that suspensions are routinely overused as punishment against students statewide.