News & Commentary

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 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.

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.

The House and Senate Judiciary Committees have each approved dangerous legislation allowing law enforcement access to your prescription information without a warrant.

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.

Following review of testimony last week before the House Finance Committee, the American Civil Liberties Union of Rhode Island today raised privacy concerns regarding the lack of information surrounding the technology that will be used to implement the proposed legislation establishing tolls on tractor-trailers traveling through the state. The ACLU urged Rhode Island lawmakers to ensure drivers’ privacy is protected in the law.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Rhode Island today filed a federal lawsuit against Tiverton police and school officials over an incident in which an 8-year-old girl was removed from a school bus, had her belongings searched, was taken alone to the police station without her parents’ knowledge, and then held and questioned at the police station for several hours before being released. The seizure, detention and interrogation of the young child were based solely on unsubstantiated claims from another child that the girl was carrying “chemicals” in her backpack, and occurred even after the police found nothing in the backpack.

The ACLU of Rhode Island is urging the Bristol Town Council to reject an ordinance that will impose unnecessary burdens on medical marijuana patients and caregivers and severely impact their privacy.