News & Commentary

An array of groups and individuals that advocate for the rights of the homeless sent a letter today to Providence Mayor Jorge Elorza commending his vow to veto a discriminatory anti-smoking ordinance passed by the City Council last week. The ordinance, enacted under the guise of promoting public health, bans smoking in downtown Providence’s Kennedy Plaza area. 

Ruling in an important ACLU of Rhode Island lawsuit dealing with the rights of medical marijuana patients, R.I. Superior Court Justice Richard Licht today ruled that a Westerly fabrics company discriminated against Christine Callaghan when the offer of a paid internship was rescinded solely because of her participation in the state’s medical marijuana program. In its decision, the court held that the state’s medical marijuana law, which bars discrimination in employment against “cardholders,” applies to job applicants like Callaghan.

Below are statements issued by the ACLU of RI today in response to Superior Court Presiding Justice Alice Gibney’s decision rejecting Governor Gina Raimondo’s petition for the release of grand jury records relating to the 38 Studios investigation:

The fallout from the rollout of UHIP, the state’s troubled new computer system, continues to plague Rhode Island’s poorest residents, as the Department of Human Services (DHS) showed virtually no improvement in April in the timely processing of SNAP (food stamp) applications, including for people the Department acknowledges were entitled to emergency relief. That is the upshot of a report sent by DHS this week to the ACLU of Rhode Island (ACLU) and the National Center for Law and Economic Justice (NCLEJ), required as part of a settlement agreement filed earlier this year in the organizations’ challenge to DHS’s failure to timely process SNAP applications.

The ACLU of RI today filed a lawsuit against the Ocean Community YMCA in Westerly on behalf of Elizabeth Gooding for violating her right to breastfeed in public.  The suit, filed in Rhode Island Superior Court by ACLU volunteer attorney H. Jefferson Melish, claims that the facility repeatedly prohibited Gooding from breastfeeding her baby in public, in violation of state anti-discrimination laws and a statute specifically allowing breastfeeding in public.

Thirteen non-profit organizations today sent letters to Governor Gina Raimondo, Attorney General Peter Kilmartin and Supreme Court Chief Justice Paul Suttell asking them to take specific actions within their power to help protect Rhode Island’s immigrants.  The diverse signatories included the RI Coalition Against Domestic Violence, Muslim Civic and Community Engagement, RI State Council of Churches, Refugee Dream Center, Fuerza Laboral, and Dorcas International Institute of RI.

Over 1,200 needy families suffered delays in receiving SNAP benefits in March, including over 800 families who qualified for expedited benefits because of their emergency need, according to a recent RI Department of Human Services (DHS) report. The report was required by the recent settlement of a lawsuit filed in December by the American Civil Liberties Union of Rhode Island (ACLU) and the National Center for Law and Economic Justice  (NCLEJ), challenging DHS's failure to timely process SNAP applications.

The ACLU of Rhode Island today filed a federal lawsuit against the City of Cranston, challenging its blatantly selective enforcement of an ordinance that bars the placement of commercial advertisements on city property. The suit was filed by ACLU volunteer attorney Richard A. Sinapi on behalf of attorney Stephen Hunter, 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, and have been, left untouched and not cited.

The ACLU of Rhode Island today sent a letter to the Ordinance Committee of the Providence City Council in response to a resolution to establish a working group to ensure proper implementation and enforcement of the Community Safety Act (CSA) ordinance.  The letter raised a few concerns, most notably the resolution's proposal that the working group be permitted to 'enter executive session,' in possible violation of Rhode Island's Open Meetings Act.