News & Commentary

ACLU of Rhode Island cooperating attorneys have today filed a petition in R.I. Superior Court to challenge the state’s “absurd” position that an important criminal justice reform enacted by the General Assembly in 2021 doesn’t apply to the person the law was overtly aimed to help.

A federal judge has refused to dismiss a lawsuit on behalf of a 13-year-old Black honors student who was handcuffed and arrested by a Pawtucket school resource officer who wanted to "make an example" of her.

The Portsmouth Town Council has unanimously voted to rescind its prior support for the implementation of Flock Safety surveillance camera systems in the town.

The ACLU of Rhode Island announced the favorable settlement of a five-year-old lawsuit against the RI State Police (RISP) for retaliating against a Twin River Casino employee who declined to serve as an informant in a criminal gambling investigation.

Following an ACLU challenge on behalf of local advocacy groups, a former state trooper has agreed to no longer proceed anonymously in suing the state after he was fired.

Groups today filed a motion in R.I. Superior Court challenging a former state trooper’s attempt to proceed anonymously in suing the State Police after he was fired for allegedly not reporting to work because he was too intoxicated.

A seven-year legal battle over privacy rights in the home, fought by ACLU of Rhode Island cooperating attorneys in a case that went all to the way to the U.S. Supreme Court, ended today with the filing of a settlement in the case of Cranston resident Edward Caniglia.

R.I. Superior Court Judge Stephen Nugent today ordered the release on parole of three individuals who were convicted of crimes committed when they were teenagers and who were recently granted parole, but who nonetheless continued to be held at the ACI.

The State’s argument, taken to its logical conclusion, would be that the Youthful Offender Act is not applicable—at all—to any person sentenced on multiple offenses, even those running concurrently, since that person has not been convicted of “an” offense.