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Leaders from ten religious and secular organizations today applauded R.I. Attorney General Peter Neronha’s decision to withdraw the State of Rhode Island’s name from a U.S. Supreme Court brief in a controversial church-state case. The brief supported a Maryland agency’s position that its sponsorship and funding of a 40-foot-tall Latin cross to memorialize WWI veterans did not violate the First Amendment. The decision in the case, scheduled to be argued before the Supreme Court later this month, could have profound implications for the First Amendment’s principle of separation of church and state, the legacy of Rhode Island founder Roger Williams.

By Johanna Kaiser, Communications & Development Associate

The Rhode Island State Council of Churches, the RI Council for Muslim Advancement, the Board of Rabbis of Greater Rhode Island and the American Civil Liberties Union of Rhode Island today issued this open letter to Governor Gina Raimondo, following her comments yesterday that the controversy surrounding the resettlement of Syrian refugees in Rhode Island was “much ado about nothing”: today issued this open letter to Governor Gina Raimondo, following her comments yesterday that the controversy surrounding the resettlement of Syrian refugees in Rhode Island was “much ado about nothing”:

The Providence school bus strike may be over, but the legal actions taken by three civil rights organizations last week to protect the rights of special education students harmed by the strike are not. Instead, the groups are working to ensure that parents of those students receive proper notification of their right to get prompt reimbursement for any transportation costs they incurred in getting their children to school, as well as their children's right to compensatory education for the time they missed classes.

We opposed a bill which would have allowed any member of a public body who is 65 years of age or older to participate in meetings of the body remotely, by phone or video.