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ACLU of RI executive director Steven Brown issued the following statement addressing yesterday’s actions by Cranston police in ticketing individuals engaged in peaceful protest.

We have received a number of inquiries about the legality of Governor McKee’s decision to fire Miguel Sanchez due to his expression on social media of his personal views about the ongoing war in the Middle East.

JoAnne Leppanen, Executive Director, Rhode Island Patient Advocacy Coalition: “Many patients who are applying to the Rhode Island medical marijuana program for the first time are experiencing a new hurdle that is delaying their admission to the program and forcing them to see more doctors and pay additional fees. Some patients and their caregivers who need to renew their licenses are in a panic as they scramble to form relationships with new physicians before their licenses expire and their legal protections evaporate. The patients who qualify for the medical marijuana program are among the sickest and most vulnerable of our citizens. Medical marijuana is vital medicine for their health. The Health Department's arbitrary and sudden reversal of policy has wreaked havoc on the health of some of our most fragile citizens.”

Read statements regarding the filing of an open meetings lawsuit against the R.I. Board of Education over its plans later this month to meet in a private retreat, closed to the public and the media, in order to hear from invited “experts” on the issue of its “high stakes testing” requirement for high school seniors: