News & Commentary

Although a new redistricting plan for the state House and Senate was signed into law two weeks ago, the public remains in the dark as to whether the lines that were drawn ensure fair representation for racial minorities. That is the gist of a detailed four-page letter sent by six community organizations to the state’s redistricting consultant, Kimball Brace, seeking an explanation for his failure to use or release any racial bloc voting analysis despite being required to do so under his contract with the state.

The Rhode Island ACLU, along with nine other organizations, submitted written testimony today to the Secretary of State’s Office, urging significant revisions to proposed rules dealing with procedures for the issuance of voter ID cards to people who do not have the requisite photo identification required to vote on Election Day under a new state law.  The testimony pointed out that the proposed rules do not adequately address the specific needs of some of the groups that will be most in need of voter ID cards, including the elderly, people with disabilities, the poor and the transient.

At a public hearing last night, the Rhode Island ACLU called on the state Reapportionment Commission address the critical problem of prison gerrymandering when drawing legislative district lines. Prison gerrymandering refers to the practice of counting all inmates at a prison as living there for purposes of redistricting. The impact of skewing districts this way is that the voting strength of the communities from which the inmates come is diluted, while the political influence of the city residents in which the prison is located is inflated.

The RI ACLU issued the following statement today in response to suggestions that the General Assembly pass a law requiring a state criminal background check for all candidates who are certified by the state Board of Elections to run for office in Rhode Island:

Rhode Island ACLU executive director Steven Brown issued the following statement today in response to Governor Lincoln Chafee’s signing into law a bill requiring voters to present photo identification in order to vote at the polls:

A diverse array of more than twenty organizations – including civil rights groups, labor unions, open government and community organizations, disability rights agencies and others – held a news conference this afternoon to criticize the Senate Judiciary Committee’s passage last night of a bill that will impose a photo identification requirement on all Rhode Island voters.

Various constitutionally problematic provisions in North Kingstown’s political sign ordinance have been rendered unenforceable under a consent judgment that has been filed in federal court, settling a lawsuit that the Rhode Island ACLU filed last year against the Town.

The Town of North Kingstown has agreed to the entry of a temporary restraining order limiting enforcement of a constitutionally problematic political sign ordinance that the Rhode Island ACLU challenged in federal court on Wednesday. The agreement eliminates the need for a planned court hearing this afternoon on the ACLU’s request for a restraining order.

The Rhode Island ACLU today filed a federal lawsuit against the Town of North Kingstown, challenging an ordinance that discriminatorily limits the posting of political signs in the town. The suit was filed by ACLU volunteer attorney Richard A. Sinapi on behalf of independent Congressional candidate John O. Matson, who was forced to take down a number of his political signs this month after being notified that they violated the town’s zoning restrictions on the size and placement of such signs.