News & Commentary

Almost half of the police departments in the state that are required to post online their police complaint forms and procedures have failed to do so, according to a report released today by the Rhode Island ACLU. 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.

The ACLU of Rhode Island today filed an “open records” lawsuit against the Providence Police Department, challenging its refusal to turn over any documents relating to police use of video camera surveillance in public places. The suit, filed in R.I. Superior Court by ACLU volunteer attorney Staci Kolb, seeks a court order requiring release of the records, and the imposition of fines and an award of attorneys fees against the Department. The lawsuit comes exactly one week after the ACLU issued a report that documented widespread non-compliance with the state’s Access to Public Records Act by government agencies, and particularly by police departments.

Citing widespread violations of the state’s open records law this summer by government officials, the Rhode Island ACLU today released a report calling for strong legislative reform to address the problem. Claiming that failure to comply with the open records law “seems to have reached a level of disregard that demands a forceful response,” the report offers a series of recommendations for strengthening the law.

In response to the death on Tuesday of Edmar Alves Araujo, a Brazilian national who had epilepsy, while in the custody of immigration officials, the ACLU of Rhode Island has today filed an open records request with the Woonsocket Police Department to obtain copies of its policies addressing how the medical needs of individuals in the Department’s custody are handled. The ACLU has also called on the Attorney General to conduct an immediate inventory of other municipal police department policies across the state regarding the provision of medication to detainees who may have emergency medical needs.

In an important victory for the public’s right to know, R.I. Superior Court Judge Gilbert Indeglia today ordered the Central Falls Police Department to release to the ACLU the incident report generated by the fatal shooting last month of city resident Selvin Garrido.

The ACLU of Rhode Island today filed an open records lawsuit against the Central Falls Police Department in order to obtain documents concerning the fatal shooting by police last month of city resident Selvin Garrido, who was killed when police came to his apartment in response to a 911 call. Garrido was shot after allegedly coming at police with a knife in his hand.

The ACLU of Rhode Island has taken legal action against the Foster-Glocester School District for violating the state’s open records law. The lawsuit, filed in Superior Court yesterday by ACLU volunteer attorney Karen Davidson, charges that district officials failed to respond to four requests from the ACLU for documents involving its compliance with a provision in the federal No Child Left Behind (NCLB) law.

The ACLU of Rhode Island has called on the Coventry School Committee to abandon its practice of barring community members from speaking about “personnel, litigation or negotiation” during the public comment portion of its meetings.  In a letter sent to the school committee and its solicitor, the ACLU argued that the policy was clearly unconstitutional.

For the third time in two years, the ACLU of Rhode Island has taken legal action against the Town of North Smithfield, this time for a violation of the state’s open records law. The lawsuit, filed in Superior Court by ACLU volunteer attorney Karen Davidson, is on behalf of realtor Sam Butterfield, who unsuccessfully sought access to the Town’s on-line database of tax assessment information without having to provide personal data.