News & Commentary

Rhode Island Legal Services and the American Civil Liberties Union of Rhode Island have today filed a lawsuit in R.I. Superior Court challenging a decision issued this month by the Council of Elementary and Secondary Education (CESE) that upholds a method of providing services to English Language Learners (EL) that the two groups claim clearly violates federal and state law and significantly shortchanges the educational rights of EL students.

ACLU of Rhode Island executive director Steven Brown issued the following statement in response to comments from Governor Gina Raimondo at her news conference today that she plans to give State Police the power to stop any car with New York license plates in order to obtain contact information from the driver and passengers:

As Rhode Island elections officials move for the first time to conduct a predominantly mail ballot election for the Presidential primary on June 2nd, three voting rights groups have called on the state Board of Elections and Secretary of State to adopt a variety of policies to ensure that the specially-conducted election becomes “a successful experience in preserving the critical constitutional right” to vote “during such trying times.”

In an important victory for immigrants' rights, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit in Boston has ruled illegal a U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) policy conditioning the receipt of federal law enforcement funds on municipal collaboration with immigration officials. The ACLU had filed a “friend of the court” brief in the case in support of the cities of Providence and Central Falls, which had filed a suit againstn the DOJ, arguing that the agency had no legal authority to attach these strings to the law enforcement grant program, known as Byrne JAG grants.

It comes as no surprise that the massive preventative strategies being implemented to halt the spread of the virus have profound civil liberties implications. These measures go beyond just the quarantine measures and restrictions on travel. The public’s interaction with numerous institutions – schools, courts, town councils – are also affected when government makes sweeping changes in the face of a public health crisis.

Stating that "[g]overnment transparency and support of the public’s right to know are more, not less, critical during emergency situations," the ACLU of RI and Common Cause RI have urged Governor Gina Raimondo to revise an executive order she issued this week that suspends certain provisions of the state's open meetings and public records laws. In  a detailed letter sent to the Governor, the two organizations recognized a need to relax some provisions of those laws, but said that the Order did not sufficiently protect the public's interests in government transparency.

An ACLU of Rhode Island cooperating attorney has filed a charge of race discrimination against the Providence Police Department on behalf of an African-American recruit who was involuntarily dismissed last year from the Police Academy just a few weeks before graduation and after enduring months of harassment from trainers at the Academy. ACLU cooperating attorney Laura Harrington has today also filed a formal claim for damages with the City as a legal prerequisite to the filing of a lawsuit on behalf of the recruit, Michael Clark.

POST UPDATED 3/17/2020: The Rhode Island General Assembly has cancelled all legislative sessions and hearings until further notice to curb the spread of COVID-19. For more information, click here. 

YOU CAN BE “FATTY” BUT NOT “CHUBBY”; “TIPSY” BUT NOT “DRUNK”; ADVERTISE “HEAVEN” BUT NOT “HELL”; SAY “DOGDOO” BUT NOT “DOOBIE”; BE AN “OLDFRT” BUT NOT A “JOCKY”; AND PROUDLY TRUMPET “FRIAR” BUT NOT “HOOSIER”