News & Commentary

All kids in Rhode Island have the right to a free public education, no matter their race, ethnic background, religion, or sex, or whether they are rich or poor, citizen or non-citizen.

Should a decision as to whether a Rhode Island author is entitled to a sales tax exemption depend on whether she has written a fictional murder mystery as opposed to an exhaustive history of the state? That is the question at the crux of a federal lawsuit the ACLU of RI filed today, challenging the state Division of Taxation’s position that a special sales tax exemption for Rhode Island authors applies only to works of fiction, and not to non-fiction, because non-fiction is not “creative and original.” The lawsuit, filed by ACLU of RI cooperating attorney Lynette Labinger, argues that making such a distinction on the content of the work violates the First Amendment’s guarantees of freedom of speech and freedom of the press.   The law at issue, enacted by the General Assembly in 2013, is designed to promote the work of local writers and artists. It exempts from the sales tax “original and creative works” sold by writers, composers, and artists residing in Rhode Island. At some point, however, the Taxation Division, in consultation with the RI State Council on the Arts (RISCA), determined that non-fiction books are not “original and creative works,” and therefore not eligible for the tax exemption.

The ACLU of Rhode Island today settled a federal lawsuit against the City of Cranston, successfully challenging its selective enforcement of ordinances barring the placement of commercial advertisements on city property. The suit was filed two filed years ago by ACLU volunteer attorney Richard A. Sinapi on behalf of Stephen Hunter, a lawyer who was threatened with fines if he did not take down signs advertising his business that he had posted at various intersections throughout the city – even though there were dozens of other advertising signs posted at the same locations and many hundreds more citywide, which were left untouched and not cited.

Even as the session enters its fifth month, we've begun to see movement on only a handful of the bills that are being tracked by the ACLU.

The ACLU testified on 29 bills this week at the Statehouse, with topics ranging from reforming criminal background checks to allowing over-the-counter medication in schools.

The ACLU of RI and RI Legal Services (RILS) today applauded a “guidance document” issued this month by RI Department of Education (RIDE) Commissioner Ken Wagner barring school districts from charging students any fees for school-sponsored field trips. The guidance was issued in response to an inquiry from the East Greenwich School Committee.

Happy Earth Day!

The legislative session is on spring break this week, but the days leading up to the session break were full for the ACLU. Last week, we testified on 28 bills, with the topics ranging from drug reclassification to gender rating in health insurance to comprehensive election and voting reform.

RILS and the ACLU of RI have appealed a state Commissioner of Education ruling upholding the Providence School District’s method of providing services to English Language Learners (EL), but which the two groups claim clearly violates federal and state law and significantly shortchanges the educational rights of EL students. In essence, the groups charge, RIDE has interpreted the state’s regulations governing EL instruction to provide less support to those students than federal law itself requires.