News & Commentary

Most of our advocacy work flies under the radar.  Yes, we testify on more than 300 bills every legislative session, but that is just a fraction of what our lobbying on behalf of civil liberties entails.  The hours spent at the Statehouse do not include time spent reading, researching, writing about, and organizing around legislation and policy. For a lobbying team of two people, it often takes 13-hour days to stay abreast of RI legislative activity that affects civil liberties.

The 2019 legislative session is only halfway through, and we’ve already seen significant pieces of legislation introduced, heard, and even passed. Notably, for the first time in over 20 years, a bill to codify the provisions of Roe v. Wade into Rhode Island law passed on the House floor. The FY 2020 budget also includes a proposal for the legalization of recreational marijuana, which we submitted a detailed and in-depth testimony on.

UPDATE (4/5/19): The newly constituted Wyatt Detention Facility Board voted to terminate its contract with ICE and have all ICE detainees moved out within 7 days. We are awaiting more information.

In a major blow to the public’s right to know, RI Superior Court Judge Melissa Long today ruled that the Pawtucket Police Department is not required, pending further court proceedings, to release reports of police officer misconduct that are generated by its Internal Affairs Division (IAD). Instead, the judge concluded that additional hearings are necessary to determine whether the records must be released under the state’s Access to Public Records Act (APRA).

The ACLU of Rhode Island today voluntarily dismissed a lawsuit filed against the Department of Corrections (DOC) in January, which challenged the lack of adequate heat for more than a month and a half in cell blocks at the ACI’s Intake Center.

The ACLU of RI today announced the settlement of a federal lawsuit against the City of Woonsocket for unlawfully withholding critically needed grant funds from Sojourner House, a social service agency that helps victims of domestic violence. Filed by ACLU of RI volunteer attorneys Matthew Oliverio and Stephen Prignano last August, the lawsuit alleged that the City withheld the funds without cause or due process, and retaliated against the agency after it petitioned other government agencies for help in resolving the dispute over the funds.

The ACLU of RI and Progreso Latino issued the following statements regarding yesterday’s unanimous vote by the Central Falls City Council to repeal the City’s unjust youth curfew ordinance: ACLU of RI: “The ACLU of RI applauds the Central Falls City Council for repealing this ineffective and counterproductive ordinance.  The evidence is clear that youth curfews don’t reduce crime, and may actually undermine public safety.  Furthermore, the ordinances make perfectly innocent activity – walking outside at night – illegal, and disproportionately affect youth of color.  We commend the Council for taking the evidence-based, principled approach here and finally repealing this ordinance.” Progreso Latino: “Progreso Latino would like to commend the Central Falls City Council for getting rid of the juvenile curfew that criminalized youth for being outside and further exposed them to possible police harassment.” In December 2018, the groups sent a letter to Central Falls Mayor, James Diossa, urging him to work with the City Council to repeal the City’s youth curfew law.  More information can be found here.

Settlement agreements have been filed in two cases brought last October by the ACLU of RI and RI Legal Services to protect the rights of special education students who were harmed by Providence’s three-week long school bus strike. Although some remedies have already been implemented by the Providence school district in response to the legal actions, the settlement agreements, filed with the R.I. Department of Education, establish additional enforceable school district educational and financial obligations to compensate the students and their families.

Leaders from ten religious and secular organizations today applauded R.I. Attorney General Peter Neronha’s decision to withdraw the State of Rhode Island’s name from a U.S. Supreme Court brief in a controversial church-state case. The brief supported a Maryland agency’s position that its sponsorship and funding of a 40-foot-tall Latin cross to memorialize WWI veterans did not violate the First Amendment. The decision in the case, scheduled to be argued before the Supreme Court later this month, could have profound implications for the First Amendment’s principle of separation of church and state, the legacy of Rhode Island founder Roger Williams.