News & Commentary

In a letter sent to Police Chief Hugh Clements, Jr., the American Civil Liberties of Rhode Island is urging the Providence Police Department to reject immigration detainers issued without judicial oversight now that the state Department of Corrections has ended the practice of detaining individuals based solely on these requests.

The ACLU of Rhode Island today praised Governor Lincoln Chafee for adopting a policy that no longer authorizes holding individuals at the ACI on the basis of questionable immigration detainers.

Nine organizations that pushed for the new law imposing a three-year moratorium on “high stakes testing” as a condition of high school graduation have sent an “urgent request” to state Department of Education Commissioner Deborah Gist, calling on her to ensure that the law is being implemented by school departments.

More than twenty community organizations representing youth, nonviolence, and civil rights have urged Governor Chafee to veto legislation purportedly aimed at “criminal street gangs” that the groups say will likely target at-risk youth.

The ACLU of Rhode Island today applauded the U.S. Supreme Court’s unanimous decision this morning that police generally must seek a warrant before examining the contents of an arrestee’s cell phone. Two years ago, the RI General Assembly overwhelmingly approved a bill that would have essentially codified the principle the Court enunciated today, but Governor Lincoln Chafee vetoed that legislation in a cursory veto message.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Rhode Island has urged Warwick City Council to amend an ordinance barring certain city employees from running for office after a worker faced losing his job if he ran for a seat in the United States Senate.

ACLU of Rhode Island executive director Steven Brown issued the following statement in response to the House of Representatives' approval this afternoon of legislation requiring law enforcement to collect DNA samples from anyone arrested for certain offenses:

The ACLU of Rhode Island raised serious concerns about a “computer crime” bill approved by House Judiciary Committee today that would criminalize the electronic dissemination of certain images even if they were taken with the knowledge and consent of the subject. The bill, aimed at combating “revenge porn,” would levy felony charges against individuals, including members of the media, who disseminate certain “sexual images” without permission of the subject even if the image was initially shared with the subject’s consent and sharing the image did not cause harm to the subject.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Rhode Island has urged the Rhode Island Department of Health to revise proposed regulations that would require physicians to establish written treatment agreements that, among other things, force patients to submit to drug tests on demand in order to receive their pain medication. In written testimony, the ACLU of RI said that these regulations and the department’s model agreement erode patient privacy, undermine the trust that should underlie a doctor-patient relationship, and may encourage individuals with addictions to seek their medication underground.