News & Commentary

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.

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).