News & Commentary

The ACLU of Rhode Island has today filed a federal lawsuit on behalf of the community advocacy group ACORN (Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now), challenging an East Greenwich Town Council ordinance barring the group from engaging in political door-to-door canvassing between 7 and 9 PM, and requiring payment of a permit fee for the group’s canvassing activities. The lawsuit, filed by ACLU volunteer attorney Carolyn Mannis, argues that the restrictions violate ACORN’s First Amendment rights.

The Rhode Island ACLU today criticized the “criminalization of student thought” as exemplified by a story in today’s Providence Journal, describing a middle-school student in West Warwick who was visited by police and the Secret Service because of an essay he wrote.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Rhode Island today filed a federal Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request on behalf of four local peace groups, some of whose lawful activities were monitored by the Pentagon, in order to determine the extent and nature of Pentagon spying in the state. The action is part of a national ACLU effort to uncover details of the Pentagon’s recently-uncovered domestic spying program.

The Rhode Island ACLU has filed an appeal in federal court on behalf of an ACI inmate who has been barred from preaching during Christian religious services at the state prison. The plaintiff, Wesley Spratt, had been preaching at ACI services for seven years before he was unilaterally stopped from doing so based on vague and generalized “security” concerns. The appeal, filed by ACLU volunteer attorney Carly Beauvais Iafrate, argues that the preaching ban violates a federal law designed to protect the religious freedom of institutionalized persons.

ACLU volunteer attorney John Dineen has asked a federal judge to hold Anthony Fire District Chief Walter Mruk in contempt of court – and personally fine him – for failing to abide by a consent agreement he entered into more than a year ago in an ACLU free speech case. The underlying suit had challenged a “gag order” issued by Mruk, barring two firefighters from publicly expressing fire-department related concerns without first getting his approval.

The ACLU of Rhode Island charged today that U.S. military officials have illegally engaged in monitoring peaceful protest activities of local anti-war demonstrators, and called for an immediate investigation of the matter. 

The Rhode Island ACLU today filed a federal lawsuit challenging on free speech grounds state laws and regulations that allow billboard signs on buildings near highways only if the sign promotes an activity taking place on the property. The suit is on behalf of Anthony Joseph Vono and his business, Specialty Promotions, which have been cited by the state Department of Transportation for having a billboard sign that advertises “off premises activity.”

The R.I. ACLU today sharply criticized the Barrington School Department’s decision to completely ban any school showings of the film “Dirty Deeds,” even though the recently released PG-13 film was based on a script written by a former Barrington High School student as part of his senior project, and co-written by him and Barrington author Jon Land. The ban was adopted following some parents’ recent complaints about its showing in June in an eighth grade classroom.

Responding to a report released earlier this year by the RI ACLU, the state’s library network has revised its Internet filtering procedure to increase access to information for public library patrons, addressing ACLU fears that libraries were “inappropriately discouraging or barring patron access to constitutionally protected material.”