News & Commentary

In a letter sent today to Bristol-Warren School District officials, five organizations that advocate for the rights of students and children criticized the district’s decision to immediately bring a police officer into the school to tackle disciplinary problems, instead of quickly expanding resources that have been depleted over the years to address the social service needs of students. The organizations that signed the letter are the R.I. Disability Law Center, R.I. Legal Services, Providence Student Union, Parent Support Network of R.I., and the ACLU of R.I.

The ACLU of Rhode Island has sharply criticized Providence Police Chief Hugh Clements, Jr. for minimizing a court’s recent conclusion that police blatantly violated the constitutional rights of a criminal defendant. Even though the Court expressed “grave disapproval” over the police conduct in the case – knowingly continuing to interrogate a suspect after she had exercised her right to request to speak with a lawyer – Chief Clements was quoted last week as calling the constitutional violations “technical” and went on to praise the police who worked on the case.

After receiving numerous complaints from inmates at the ACI’s Intake Center, the ACLU of RI today filed a class-action lawsuit against the RI Department of Corrections (DOC) claiming that the facility has failed to provide adequate heat to at least two cell blocks for more than a month and a half.  The lawsuit, filed by ACLU of RI cooperating attorneys Sonja Deyoe and Lynette Labinger, argues that the facility’s failure to provide heat during the coldest months of the year has made cells “dangerously cold,” placing prisoners’ health and safety at risk, and constitutes cruel and unusual punishment in violation of the Eighth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.

Calling the controversy “one of the most significant challenges to the public’s right to know under the state’s Access to Public Records Act” since its enactment, the ACLU of Rhode Island today filed an appeal to the R.I. Supreme Court on behalf of former House Minority Leader and Gubernatorial candidate Patricia Morgan, whose access to documents pertaining to the Attorney General’s expenditure of more than $50M in funds from the “Google settlement” has been stymied by hundreds of questionable redactions.

The ACLU of Rhode Island today announced the settlement of a class-action lawsuit that was filed against the State last year, claiming that participants in a Medicaid program run by the state were not being given proper notice before being kicked off the program, leading to a loss of income that the suit says put low-income residents “at risk of losing their homes and their utilities and…funds needed for their daily living expenses, including food.” The suit tied the improper notice to the state’s infamous UHIP computer system, the subject of another pending ACLU suit regarding food stamp benefit delays.

While almost nobody was looking, the Office of the Attorney General (AG) has abruptly made secret literally tens of thousands of government records. It happened in the context of a dispute over the release of one of the most innocuous documents one could imagine: a memo seeking the purchase of ceremonial lapel pins for members of the Attorney General’s staff. Yet this dispute’s ramifications for open government are nothing short of monumental.

The ACLU of Rhode Island today filed a “friend of the court” brief in the R.I. Supreme Court, arguing that the Providence Board of Licenses’ revocation of the Foxy Lady’s entertainment license earlier this month, and the failure to issue a stay of the decision pending full judicial review, violate the club’s First Amendment rights. All of the club’s licenses to operate were revoked earlier this month by the Board after undercover officers arrested three female employees for allegedly soliciting for prostitution.

It has been yet another challenging year for civil liberties. As we approach our 60th Anniversary at the ACLU of RI in 2019, we've been reflecting on how we got to this strange place in history. Fortunately, steadfast enforcement of the Bill of Rights is one of the most effective antidotes we have against the country's current, hostile political climate.

Citing concerns about the potentially devastating impact on veterans wishing to participate in Rhode Island’s medical marijuana program, six state and national advocacy organizations have expressed strong opposition to a Department of Human Services proposal to ban the use of “narcotics prohibited by federal law” – including medical marijuana – at the Veterans’ Home in Bristol.