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In an important victory for children’s rights, the U.S. Court of Appeals in Boston today reversed a federal district court ruling that had thrown out a case against the Department of Children Youth and Families (DCYF) for the mistreatment of foster children in its care. RI ACLU volunteer attorneys Andrew Prescott and Steven Richard had filed a "friend of the court" brief last August urging the appellate court to take this action.

The Rhode Island ACLU expressed disappointment with a federal appeals court ruling upholding the dismissal of a lawsuit the ACLU filed in 2007 against the R.I. State Police, challenging the legality of the detention and transporting to immigration officials of fourteen people, all Guatemalans, who were stopped in a van on I-95 after the driver changed lanes without using a turn signal. The ACLU lawsuit, filed on behalf of eleven of the individuals, had argued that the detention violated the driver and passengers’ constitutional rights to be free from discrimination and from unreasonable searches and seizures.

The ACLU testified against a bill greatly expanding the scope of criminal record checks performed on Department of Children, Youth and Families employees and volunteers.