News & Commentary

In response to our release of documents showing Brown University's disturbing plans to undermine a long-standing Title IX consent agreement, the University has claimed that it has never wavered from its commitment to the agreement. Nice try. We'll let the documents speak for themselves.

A series of internal emails and documents recently made public reveal an intentional plan by Brown University officials to undermine and ultimately destroy a long-standing consent decree to comply with federal Title IX laws that ensure equal opportunity for female athletes at the college.

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

Groups urged the passage of a budget provision to extend reimbursement funding currently available for School Resource Officers to mental and behavioral health support professionals.

In response to concerns that remote learning was causing educational harm, in violation of laws that protect students with disabilities, Education Commissioner Infante-Green issued guidance to districts confirming their obligation to provide in-person services to those students.

More than twenty years after Brown Univ. violated federal Title IX law by engaging in gender discrimination in its athletics program, legal representatives are back in court, alleging that the school is at it again.

As conflict over race-based discriminatory police practices permeates the country, ACLU of RI cooperating attorneys Shannah Kurland and Lynette Labinger today filed suit in federal court over a Pawtucket School Resource Officer’s (SRO) gratuitous and unlawful handcuffing and arrest last year of Tre’sur Johnson, a 13-year-old African-American honors student at Goff Middle School. The suit alleges that the defendants’ treatment of her violated numerous constitutional and statutory rights, including her right to be free from unreasonable searches and seizures.

ACLU of Rhode Island cooperating attorney Amato DeLuca filed suit in federal court seeking monetary damages on behalf of a former Narragansett High School student with special education needs who was thrown to the ground, choked and falsely arrested by a school resource officer (SRO) over a rude hand gesture the student gave the SRO. A videotaped record of the incident, which occurred two years ago, shows SRO Kyle Rooney forcefully slamming to the floor and restraining 11th-grader Michael Blanchette for a few minutes before removing him from the school in handcuffs.

A review of school district policies in the state has prompted the ACLU of Rhode Island to call on all districts to “take prompt action to protect the privacy rights of students and families” with their use of school-loaned devices, such as Chromebooks, and third-party programs that facilitate online learning but also allow for widespread spying on both students and parents. The ACLU’s examination of current school district policies and programs show that they often allow for remote access to a school-loaned computer’s microphone and camera at any time and the ability to view weeks of computer browsing activity, whether on a school laptop or personal computer. In a letter sent to each school district, the ACLU has asked superintendents to take steps to prevent such snooping.