News & Commentary

As emergency workers and homeless rights’ advocates work feverishly to help move vulnerable homeless Rhode Islanders out of the frigid weather, the ACLU of RI has filed an emergency lawsuit to halt enforcement of a new state law taking effect tomorrow that, as those advocates had earlier warned public officials would happen, will evict some homeless people out into the bitter cold. 

Here’s a look at the top issues – including some big victories and losses – of 2017:

In a ruling that the ACLU of Rhode Island called a blow to an open judicial process, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit today held, by a 2-1 vote, that the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) can keep secret thousands of pages of documents it had submitted in a major prescription drug-dealing criminal trial. At the same time, the plaintiff in the case, local journalist Philip Eil, said the suit still had a positive effect, prompting the DEA to release thousands of other documents it would not have otherwise disclosed in the absence of the lawsuit.

“Political,” “hobbies,” “dictionary” and “news” are just four of the ‘filtered’ categories blocked by RI school districts’ Internet filtering systems.  This was one of the findings of a report on the status of Internet filtering in RI public schools released today by the ACLU. A follow-up to a 2013 analysis on the same issue, today’s report found that RI schools’ filtering systems continue to over-censor school Internet networks, hampering academic freedom and access to relevant educational information.  Importantly, the report also found that only two school districts – Cumberland and Exeter-West Greenwich – have adopted formal policies governing their use of Internet filters that complies with a 2016 law designed to promote academic freedom in the classroom.

November 2017 timeliness rates issued by the R.I. Department of Human Services (DHS) show that almost one of every two of the neediest households in the state did not get their food stamp (SNAP) applications processed in time. Attorneys for the ACLU of Rhode Island and the National Center for Law and Economic Justice (NCLEJ) called that figure “alarming” in a letter sent yesterday to Deming Sherman, the special master appointed in the groups’ on-going lawsuit challenging DHS’ failure to comply with federal law requiring the provisions of timely food stamp assistance to needy families. The ACLU and NCLEJ stated that, despite successful efforts by DHS to reduce the backlog of SNAP applications, “the most significant conclusion to be derived from” the agency’s latest monthly report is that unlawful delays in processing SNAP applications remain all too common.

In a rebuff to Big Brother on the highways, the RI Department of Transportation (DOT) has adopted new regulations designed to protect the privacy of motorists when the state’s new truck toll gantry system takes effect. The regulations, filed this week with the Secretary of State, came about after an earlier version of the DOT’s tolling regulations contained no privacy protections whatsoever, prompting criticism from the ACLU and other privacy advocates. The ACLU of Rhode Island today commended the DOT for responding to that criticism and taking strong action to protect motorists’ privacy.

The ACLU of RI today announced a settlement in its case on behalf of Elizabeth Gooding who, in May 2017, sued the Ocean Community YMCA for violating her right to breastfeed in public.  Parties in the lawsuit have agreed to a resolution of all issues presented in the case, and filed a stipulation of dismissal today, Friday, December 8, 2017, after signing a confidential settlement agreement and release.

Nobody likes getting pulled over by the police, but when even the police officers making the stops are doing it against their will, something is seriously wrong.

In response to recent news reports indicating that some local police departments may be implementing traffic ticket quotas among their ranks, the ACLU of Rhode Island has sent letters to all RI police chiefs reminding them of a state law, enacted in 2010, that specifically prohibits this practice.  The ACLU is also considering legal action on behalf of affected motorists.