News & Commentary

The ACLU of Rhode Island today sued the City of Cranston over its latest anti-panhandling ordinance.  The suit, filed in federal court by ACLU of RI volunteer attorney Lynette Labinger, argues that the ordinance, enacted earlier this year by a 5-4 vote of the City Council, violates the First Amendment right of individuals to solicit donations and distribute literature on Cranston roadways.

In response to the reported arrest by ICE agents of an undocumented immigrant outside a Providence courthouse, ACLU of RI executive director Steven Brown today issued the following statement:

The ACLU of Rhode Island today filed a federal lawsuit against the City of Cranston, challenging its blatantly selective enforcement of an ordinance that bars the placement of commercial advertisements on city property. The suit was filed by ACLU volunteer attorney Richard A. Sinapi on behalf of attorney Stephen Hunter, who was threatened with fines if he did not take down signs advertising his business that he had posted at various intersections throughout the city – even though there were dozens of other advertising signs posted at the same locations and many hundreds more citywide, which were, and have been, left untouched and not cited.

ACLU of RI executive director Steven Brown issued the following statement addressing yesterday’s actions by Cranston police in ticketing individuals engaged in peaceful protest.

Will Warwick take the high road that municipalities like Providence and Newport have done, and reject attempts to enact or enforce punitive anti-panhandling ordinances that seek to "solve" poverty by hiding it from public view? Or will they take the low road, like Cranston, which, after being successfully sued by the ACLU over an ordinance banning "solicitation on roadways," decided to pass a cosmetically revised ordinance last month that will once again be challenged?

Lately, we’ve gotten a surge of requests for our Know Your Rights information on anti-Muslim discrimination, police practices, and protests and demonstrations.  Given the recent deportation raids, Trump’s “border wall” and “Muslim ban” executive orders, and the nationwide protests that have sprung up in response, we’re not surprised.  Here are quick links to some Know Your Rights pamphlets – to keep you informed and help your efforts to educate others. Feel free to share these widely.

“The action of the local authorities in compelling the flag salute and pledge transcends constitutional limitations on their power, and invades the sphere of intellect and spirit which it is the purpose of the First Amendment to our Constitution to reserve from all official control.”

The American Civil Liberties Union of Rhode Island and the R.I. Disability Law Center today announced the favorable settlement of a federal civil rights lawsuit on behalf of a profoundly deaf person who was not provided an interpreter to allow him to communicate after he was arrested and detained overnight in jail by Woonsocket police for allegedly making an obscene gesture. The groups expressed hope that the settlement, which addresses important issues regarding municipal agency obligations to accommodate people who are deaf or hard of hearing, will serve as a model for police departments across the state.

Below is a statement issued today by the ACLU of Rhode Island on allegations that excessive punishment has been imposed on students who last month protested Warwick school district educational policies: