News & Commentary

By Dan Kennedy

The ACLU of Rhode Island has asked the Pawtucket City Council to "forcefully and publicly reject any future efforts to intimidate members of the public who are exercising their First Amendment rights at City Council meetings" after a recent council meeting was halted because a member of the public refused to stand for the Pledge of Allegiance. 

The American Civil Liberties Union of Rhode Island has requested the “gag order” issued for the settlement discussions in the pension case be lifted now that plaintiffs are voting on a possible settlement agreement. In a letter delivered Friday to R.I. Superior Court Judge Sarah Taft-Carter, the ACLU said that since the “broadly written” gag order was issued to protect the confidentiality of the mediation process, it is “counter-productive and unduly intrusive on basic First Amendment values to allow it to remain in effect” now that that task is completed. In the letter, ACLU of Rhode Island executive director Steven Brown noted that, as plaintiffs began an expedited process of considering and voting on a settlement agreement, various explanations of the agreement have circulated with no public details coming from those who know what it contains.

Despite decades of progress toward gender equality, in Rhode Island today gender-exclusive student events that are specifically held for girls or boys with the active support of elementary schools help to perpetuate blatant gender stereotypes. Almost invariably, the girls’ events, organized by parent-teacher groups and publicized by the schools, are dances, with another gender-stereotyped event, like a pajama party, occasionally taking their place. By contrast, and just as invariably, the events arranged for boys involve almost anything but dancing, are wide-ranging, and focus on purportedly male-friendly activities like sports and arcade games.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Rhode Island today urged the Westerly School Committee to reject a proposal that would require committee members to support all committee decisions, limit members’ ability to discuss committee matters in public and establish consequences for violating these restrictions.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Rhode Island expressed alarm today that, without any regulations governing the practice, the Providence Police Department has been videotaping peaceful demonstrations the past two years. Even more disturbingly, the videotaping has often focused on other people, including journalists, who are recording the events, rather than trying to document illegal activity, suggesting that the real purpose of the recordings is to intimidate protesters engaging in First Amendment-protected activity.

The Rhode Island Homeless Advocacy Project and the American Civil Liberties Union of Rhode Island issued the following statement in response to the Senate introduction of a bill that would make it a felony to “loiter” on a highway, causing a “distraction” or “delay” of motorists.

The ACLU of Rhode Island Monday filed a federal lawsuit against the Providence Police Department for violating the “clearly established” free speech rights of two protesters last year at a fundraiser in Roger Williams Park for then-Gubernatorial candidate, and now Governor-elect, Gina Raimondo. The suit alleges that the police department’s actions amounted to a “willful” violation of the “constitutionally protected right of people to peaceably assemble and demonstrate in public parks,” and seeks various court-imposed remedies, including monetary damages. The suit notes that only six months earlier in another ACLU case, a federal judge condemned the Providence police department’s practice of “clearing vast public spaces” of people engaged in free speech activity without legal cause.

The ACLU of Rhode Island Tuesday said the investiagion into a Providence firefighter for silently gesturing in support of an anti-racism protest was troubling on a number of levels and raised a number of questions. Executive Director Steven Brown said: