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Expressing “dismay and disappointment” at the state’s actions, the ACLU of Rhode Island today called on state officials to stop conducting criminal background checks on all of the Hurricane Katrina evacuees who have relocated to Rhode Island this week. The ACLU called the checks “intrusive, humiliating and discriminatory.” Below is a statement issued by RI ACLU executive director Steven Brown:

Less than nine months after adopting regulations restricting the public’s access to arrest reports, the RI Department of Public Safety (DPS) is proposing to hide even more of those records from public view. In preparation for a public hearing scheduled for next Tuesday, the RI ACLU has filed written testimony urging that the proposal be withdrawn.

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.

The ACLU of Rhode Island, joined by representatives from three civil rights groups -- the R.I. Civil Rights Roundtable, R.I. Affirmative Action Professionals and the Providence Human Relations Commission -- have called on Governor Donald Carcieri to publicly respond to “troubling issues” raised by the State Police internal report of the July 14th Narragansett Indian smoke shop raid, including information that the state police clearly knew that a confrontation was likely to occur if an attempt to execute a search warrant was made.

Below is a statement issued today by RI ACLU executive director Steven Brown on Speaker of the House Gordon Fox's announcement last week that instead of voting on a same-sex marriage bill, the House will instead consider "civil union" legislation in its place: