News & Commentary

The American Civil Liberties Union of Rhode Island today filed a lawsuit against the North Kingstown Town Council for violating a Town Charter provision that gives members of the public “a reasonable opportunity to be heard” at Council meetings. The lawsuit, filed in Washington County Superior Court by ACLU volunteer attorney H. Jefferson Melish, is on behalf of North Kingstown resident and past Town Council candidate Richard Welch.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Rhode Island and the R.I. Disability Law Center have today filed a federal civil rights lawsuit on behalf of a profoundly deaf person who was arrested and detained overnight in jail by Woonsocket police for allegedly making an obscene gesture, and who was never provided an interpreter to allow him to communicate with the police during his detention. The case raises important issues regarding municipal agency obligations to accommodate residents who are deaf or hard of hearing.

Twelve years after the ACLU of Rhode Island first filed a complaint with the U.S. Department of Justice about the problem, and two years after the R.I. Judiciary adopted a detailed plan to address the issue, the DOJ announced today it was formally closing its case against the state judiciary for failing to adequately provide language assistance to persons with limited English proficiency (LEP).

RI Legal Services and the ACLU of Rhode Island have filed a formal complaint with the state Department of Education, charging the Providence School District with violating various laws and regulations designed to provide appropriate educational services to students who are also English Language Learners (ELL).

In an important victory against the criminalization of poverty, the ACLU of Rhode Island today announced the favorable settlement of a lawsuit filed last year against the City of Cranston, challenging a city ordinance barring the solicitation of donations from motorists. In a consent judgment entered in federal court today, the City acknowledged that the ordinance violated the free speech rights of Michael Monteiro, who is disabled and supplements his disability payments by soliciting charitable donations.

Following the bill's approval by the House Committee on Health, Education and Welfare today, Rhode Island Medical Society, Rhode Island Health Center Association, Rhode Island Academy of Physician Assistants, Rhode Island Dental Association, Rhode Island Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons and American Civil Liberties Union of Rhode Island criticized legislation to permit law enforcement access to Rhode Islanders' prescription drug history without a warrant.

The ACLU of Rhode Island today issued the following statement in regard to the Supreme Court’s ruling in The Providence Journal Company et al. v. The RI Dept. of Public Safety:

The ACLU of Rhode Island today commended Secretary of State Nellie Gorbea for introducing, the General Assembly for passing, and Governor Gina Raimondo for signing legislation adopting online voter registration for the state’s residents, and particularly for addressing voters with disabilities.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Rhode Island and R.I. Legal Services today applauded a Superior Court decision holding that the Cumberland school district could not charge a student a $700 fee in order to attend summer school to avoid repeating ninth grade. The ruling overturned a 2014 decision issued by former state Department of Education Commissioner Deborah Gist that, at the time, was denounced by educational advocacy groups as undermining decades of precedent guaranteeing a free and equal public education to all children in the state.