News & Commentary

The ACLU of Rhode Island today filed a court brief seeking to beat back an effort to overturn a state law that protects an individual’s right to an abortion.

The ACLU of Rhode Island today called on the city councils in Cranston, Pawtucket, and Woonsocket to direct their respective police departments to halt the use of automated license plate reader (ALPR) technology leased from the company Flock Safety. In a letter sent to the city council and mayor of each municipality, the ACLU expressed concerns about the serious privacy issues such technologies can pose to all residents and noted that these systems were inappropriately installed on a trial basis in the absence of any public notice, input or statutory guidance.

These are not decisions that should be unilaterally made by law enforcement. The public should have a say about whether they want potentially invasive and discriminatory technologies in their neighborhoods.

The ACLU has called on Mayor Elorza and Commissioner of Public Safety Paré to address the “constitutionally suspect procedural shortcuts” that it took last week in an attempt to oust the people living in a homeless encampment on Wilson Street in PVD.

In an important victory for privacy rights, the U.S Supreme Court today unanimously rejected police arguments that engaging in a non-criminal “community caretaking” function allows them to search a person’s home without a warrant.

An unfavorable ruling in the case could “give police free rein to enter the home without probable cause or a warrant, whenever they think it is ‘reasonable’ to do so.”

The ACLU has issued a report calling for the decriminalization of sex work, relying in part on evidence from a period of time in RI when indoor sex work was technically legal in the state.

We released a report which highlights the alarming lack of privacy protections afforded students who use school-loaned laptops. Our report calls for the adoption of laws and policies at the state and local level to address this concerning violation of student privacy rights.

UPDATE: In response to the ACLU's objections, South Kingstown issued an amended executive order that favorably addressed our key concerns.