News & Commentary

Highlighting the “extraordinarily strong public interest” in the investigation of the 38 Studios scandal and calling “less than compelling” the arguments offered for keeping the records of that investigation secret, five open government groups today called on Attorney General Peter Kilmartin and State Police Superintendent Steven O’Donnell to release those documents to the public.

In the almost 15 years since 9/11, we as Americans are all too familiar with knee-jerk reactions that blossom into policies and laws that seek to “protect” us while trampling on our rights -- all in the name of security.  Case in point, the Patriot Act.  After all of these years, this Act has done more in the way of eroding our rights in the name of security than one can count – and once again, Congress is looking to make it even worse.

The ACLU of Rhode Island issued the following statement in regard to today’s vote by the Rhode Island Ethics Commission to place a moratorium on the filing of complaints:

The ACLU of Rhode Island today commended the General Assembly for passing, and Governor Gina Raimondo for signing, legislation establishing transparent standards for the use of Internet filters in Rhode Island’s schools.

The ACLU of Rhode Island today celebrated the signing by Governor Gina Raimondo of crucial privacy legislation requiring law enforcement to obtain a warrant before accessing cell phone location information, except in certain emergency circumstances.

The ACLU of Rhode Island has raised concerns about apparent plans by the RI DMV to routinely share driver license photos with the FBI.  In a letter to the DMV, the ACLU has called on the agency to release information about its negotiations with the FBI in order to allow public input before an agreement is entered into that could seriously invade residents’ privacy rights.

The ACLU of Rhode Island commended the General Assembly for passing, and Governor Raimondo for today signing, important legislation limiting the use of out-of-school suspensions in Rhode Island’s schools.

When the sun rose and the gavel came down at 6am on Saturday morning, June 18th, the ACLU of Rhode Island was still at the State House, monitoring important civil liberties legislation until the very last moments of the session. We will provide a more detailed review of the legislative session, along with a 2015-2016 voting scorecard, in our next newsletter (look for it in August), and you can check out an expanded list of some of the legislation we monitored last year here. For now, here are some of the highlights - and the lows - of the 2016 General Assembly session.

Steven Brown, executive director of the ACLU of Rhode Island, issued the following statement today following the Supreme Court's decision in Whole Women's Health v. Hellerstedt: