News & Commentary

The ACLU of Rhode Island and 13 other organizations are urging school districts not to use PARCC as a graduation requirement before the Council on Elementary and Secondary Education's recommended start date of 2020 after some districts requested permission to use the PARCC test as a graduation requirement before the 2020 date.

The legislative session is far from over, and if history tells us anything it’s that our greatest civil liberties battles have yet to make themselves known. In our latest newsletter to members, we discussed the many bills that threaten your liberties in 2015 and beyond. (We also discuss elementary schools' violations of Title IX, our FOIA suit against the DEA, and our concerns about East Providence's hiring practices and Pawtucket Police Department's traffic stop practices, and our upcoming events.)

At least eleven municipalities in the state ask job applicants a question on their application forms that is prohibited by law, according to the ACLU of Rhode Island and Direct Action for Rights and Equality. As a result, the two groups have sent letters to those municipalities – from Burrillville to Warwick to Narragansett – asking them to promptly remove the question, which asks job applicants about their criminal record.

BLACKLISTED: Children of color in Rhode Island are being suspended at the highest rate in a decade, our latest report has found. These growing racial disparities must be addressed if we are to stem the flow of students into the school-to-prison pipeline. Read about our report and ask your legislators to support ACLU-drafted legislation limiting the use of suspensions.

By Johanna Kaiser, Communications & Development Associate

Racial disparities in suspensions at Rhode Island’s schools reached their highest rates in a decade last year, according to a new report issued today by the American Civil Liberties Union of Rhode Island. The report, “Blacklisted: 2013-2014,” found that while white students experienced a ten-year low in suspensions during the 2013-2014 school year, the combined suspension rate for Hispanic, black and Native American students was at its highest level.

ACLU of Rhode Island executive director Steven Brown issued the following statement in response to recent news reports addressing a “change” in Motel 6’s policy of handing over its guest list to Warwick police:

The ACLU of Rhode Island has asked the Pawtucket City Council to "forcefully and publicly reject any future efforts to intimidate members of the public who are exercising their First Amendment rights at City Council meetings" after a recent council meeting was halted because a member of the public refused to stand for the Pledge of Allegiance.