News & Commentary

The Rhode Island ACLU submitted a friend of the court brief today supporting plaintiffs who are asking the U.S. Court of Appeals in Boston to order a new election for five Smithfield Town Council seats because of defective ballots that thousands of town voters used in casting their votes.

Ruling in an Access to Public Records Act (APRA) lawsuit the R.I. ACLU filed against Governor Donald Carcieri last August, Superior Court Judge Patricia Hurst today ordered the Governor to release certain requested documents to the ACLU, and further ordered that additional records be turned over to her for in camera (private) review for her determination as to whether they too should be released. In doing so, she rejected motions by the Governor’s attorneys to dismiss the ACLU suit, filed by RI ACLU volunteer attorney Kathleen Managhan.

The Rhode Island ACLU has today filed a federal lawsuit against Rhode Island elections officials on behalf of the Moderate Party of Rhode Island (MPRI), challenging the State’s restrictive ballot access laws. The lawsuit, filed by RI ACLU volunteer attorney Mark W. Freel, argues that the laws unconstitutionally impede the ability of fledgling groups like MPRI from gaining formal recognition as a political party.

A 25-year-old state law that could be formally implemented next month significantly undermines the principle that court proceedings should be open to the public, the RI ACLU said today. The ACLU will instead seek to have the statute repealed before it is implemented.

In the latest example of a police department choosing to ignore its clear legal responsibilities to release public documents, the Rhode Island ACLU has today filed an open records lawsuit against the North Smithfield Police for refusing to turn over an arrest report to a community activist.

The Rhode Island ACLU has filed a motion in R.I. Superior Court, asking that the state be held in contempt or subject to a restraining order for ignoring the dictates of a September 15th court ruling addressing the legality of Governor Donald Carcieri’s controversial “immigration executive order” requiring all vendors and contractors with the state to participate in the federal employment authorization system known as E-Verify.

The Rhode Island ACLU today filed a lawsuit challenging the legality of the controversial “immigration executive order” that Governor Donald Carcieri issued in March. Specifically, the lawsuit, filed in R.I. Superior Court by RI ACLU volunteer attorney Randy Olen, challenges the order’s requirement that all vendors and contractors with the state participate in the federal employment authorization system known as E-Verify.

The R.I. ACLU today filed a lawsuit charging Governor Donald Carcieri with a “knowing and willful” violation of the Access to Public Records Act, and seeking imposition of a $1,000 fine against him for the violation. The suit, filed in R.I. Superior Court by RI ACLU volunteer attorney Kathleen Managhan, argues that the Governor has failed to turn over records that are clearly public under the law.

Supporting the public’s right to know, the Rhode Island ACLU has today filed a brief urging the R.I. Supreme Court to reverse the imposition of $15,000 in fines against Attorney General Patrick Lynch for public comments he made during the “lead paint public nuisance” case. The brief argues that the fines violated not only Lynch’s First Amendment right to free speech, but also the public’s right to hear the “views of attorneys concerning pending litigation in which the attorneys are involved.”