News & Commentary

A trial is scheduled to begin next week in the Rhode Island ACLU’s federal lawsuit challenging the City of Pawtucket’s long-standing practice of giving preferential treatment to parochial schools over public schools in granting permits for the use of city athletics fields. The trial will take place before U.S. District Chief Judge Mary Lisi at 10 AM on Monday.

The Rhode Island ACLU submitted written testimony to the Board of Regents for Elementary and Secondary Education prior to a work session the Board held yesterday on proposed rules that would affect the public's opportunity to make comments at Board meetings.  At yesterday’s meeting, the Board of Regents specifically discussed aspects of the proposal that would give the chairperson greater discretion on deciding who could speak at the meetings.

RI ACLU executive director Steven Brown issued the following statement today in response to news reports that Providence police have used special infra-red technology to determine whether people have been sleeping overnight inside the tents in Burnside Park where the “Occupy Providence” protest is taking place:

The RI ACLU testified yesterday against proposed state Board of Elections' regulations that would bar voters from wearing political buttons or clothing with political messages into polling places.  The ACLU's testimony argued that in addition to raising First Amendment concerns, such a restriction was inconsistent with state law provisions defining improper "electioneering."

The RI ACLU has urged the Warwick City Council to reject passage of a resolution, scheduled for a vote next Wednesday, to ban the display of signs or posters at City Council meetings. The proposal follows a lengthy and somewhat raucous Council meeting last month attended by hundreds of residents concerned about an increase in the motor vehicle excise tax for city residents.

The Rhode Island ACLU has filed a brief asking a federal judge to issue a permanent injunction requiring the City of Cranston to remove from public display a “School Prayer” mural addressed to “Our Heavenly Father” that is painted on a Cranston High School West auditorium wall. The brief was filed by RI ACLU volunteer attorneys Lynette Labinger and Thomas Bender in preparation for a court hearing on October 13th in the ACLU lawsuit, which had been filed in April. The suit is on behalf of Jessica Ahlquist, a sophomore at the school who, the brief notes, has been the subject of “personal attacks and intimidation” from students and others in the community ever since publicly opposing the display.

The Rhode Island ACLU today issued a report examining some of the civil liberties battles that have taken place specifically in Rhode Island in the past decade in response to the government’s “war on terrorism.” Noting that the tenth anniversary of 9/11 offers a time for reflection on the “devastating and horrific loss of life that occurred that day,” the report adds that it also presents an opportunity to reflect on the government’s response and, how “all too often, it has acted in ways inimical to basic civil liberties.”

The RI ACLU has called on Governor Lincoln Chafee to veto legislation that would allow police to obtain Internet subscriber service information without the need of a warrant or other judicial oversight. In a letter to the Governor, the ACLU argues that enactment of the bills, S-781A and H-5093A, “would not only lead to a very serious erosion of privacy rights, but will also have a chilling impact on freedom of speech.”