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The ACLU of Rhode Island today filed a lawsuit on behalf of Portsmouth High School senior Patrick Agin, whose planned yearbook photo was rejected by the principal on the grounds that it violates the school district’s “zero tolerance” policy for weapons. In the photo, Patrick is dressed in a medieval chain mail coat with a prop sword over his shoulder, representing his long-standing interest in medieval history. Patrick is a member of the Society for Creative Anachronism, an organization that promotes research and reenactments of medieval history.

The ACLU of Rhode Island has today filed an open records lawsuit on behalf of the Olneyville Neighborhood Association (ONA) in an effort to obtain documents that the group wants to share with the community relating to the state’s cooperation with federal immigration officials. The lawsuit, against the RI Department of Corrections and the RI State Police, seeks a court order waiving the significant fees the agencies want to charge ONA before turning over the requested records.

The Rhode Island ACLU today filed a federal lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of a prayer mural addressed to “Our Heavenly Father” that is displayed in the auditorium of a Cranston public high school. The lawsuit, filed by RI ACLU volunteer attorneys Lynette Labinger and Thomas Bender, is on behalf of Jessica Ahlquist, a sophomore at Cranston High School West, who in the past year has spoken out against her school’s prayer display.

The ACLU of RI has this morning filed an emergency lawsuit against the state, seeking a court order requiring elections officials to count potentially hundreds of ballots to be cast tomorrow that the Board of Elections plans to reject as invalid. The suit, filed by RI ACLU volunteer attorney John W. Dineen on behalf of RI Parents for Progress, a low-income advocacy organization engaged in voter registration activities, argues that the Board’s position is a violation of voter rights and a 2002 federal law known as the Help America Vote Act (HAVA).

The ACLU of Rhode Island has filed a lawsuit on behalf of a URI graduate student who was denied summer employment this year at a fabrics company because of her status as a registered medical marijuana user.