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Calling the findings of the Rhode Island State Police (RISP) investigation into the Cranston Police Department likely the “tip of an iceberg,” the ACLU of Rhode Island urged the Cranston City Council to call for further investigations into police practices and possible abuses of power against individuals outside the department.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Rhode Island today called on Cranston Mayor Allan Fung to promptly release the full, unredacted report on the State Police investigation into the Cranston Police Department, noting that Mayor Fung’s stated plan to consult the Attorney General about what information would be appropriate to release under the state’s Access to Public Records Act (APRA) was “unnecessary and unwarranted,” and would likely significantly delay access to the critical report.

The ACLU of Rhode Island today filed a federal lawsuit to challenge the constitutionality of a 106-year-old statute that declares inmates serving life sentences at the ACI to be “civilly dead.” The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court by ACLU volunteer attorney Sonja Deyoe, is on behalf of two ACI inmates and the women who have been barred from marrying them because of the “civil death” law. Rhode Island apparently remains one of only three states that still has on the books a law like this, whose origins date back to ancient English common law.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Rhode Island filed a lawsuit today against the Division of Motor Vehicles for implementing a database designed to identify uninsured motorists without first establishing any regulations to prevent the improper disclosure of drivers’ personal information, avoid mistaken registration revocations, or to otherwise ensure that the program is properly administered by the private out-of-state company contracted to run the program.