Civil Liberties

Blair Hopkins-SWOP Behind Bars Joined The Coalition! It’s Time For The Super Bowl Of Police Stings

  Blair Hopkins, Deputy Director SWOP Behind Bars Joined The Coalition! We Talked Super Bowl & The Sex Workers Outreach Project #DECRIM #FOSTA Stings & Economic Racism Recent Press Release: Coalition Rescues Marginalized Sex Workers from Police SWOP Behind Bars – in partnership with Woodhull Freedom Foundation, Metro Inclusive Health,[Read More…]

by February 6, 2021

SEX WORKERS ASSIST WOMEN ARRESTED IN TRAFFICKING STINGS LEADING UP TO BIG GAME

  Coalition Rescues Marginalized Sex Workers from Police  SWOP Behind Bars – in partnership with Woodhull Freedom Foundation, Metro Inclusive Health, LIPS Tampa and Big John’s Bail Bonds – has set up a bail and legal assistance fund for sex workers detained by “anti trafficking” stings around this year’s Big[Read More…]

by February 4, 2021

Plaintiff Lindsay Koso re: Koso v. Neronha Joined The Coalition! A Law Student Takes On APRA & The Rhode Island Attorney General

Plaintiff Lindsay Koso re: Koso v. Neronha joined The Coalition Talk Radio! From www.RIACLU.org: “About this Case: This is an Access to Public Records Act (APRA) lawsuit against the state’s Attorney General (AG), challenging a $225 fee his office has charged a Roger Williams University Law School student in order[Read More…]

by February 3, 2021

FORMERLY INCARCERATED COMMUNITY MEMBERS, LOVED ONES, AND ALLIES RALLY AT THE ACI FOR THE RELEASE OF INCARCERATED INDIVIDUALS DURING THE COVID-19 OUTBREAK

At 3pm on Sunday, January 31st, Rhode Islanders concerned for the wellbeing of those incarcerated in the state’s carceral facilities circled the premises of the Adult Correctional Institutions (ACI) in a car rally. Drivers taped posters to their windows in protest of the Rhode Island Department of Corrections’ (RIDOC) mishandling[Read More…]

by February 1, 2021

ACLU FILES OPEN RECORDS LAWSUIT AGAINST ATTORNEY GENERAL ON BEHALF OF ROGER WILLIAMS LAW STUDENT

American Civil Liberties Union of Rhode Island lawyers today filed an Access to Public Records Act (APRA) lawsuit against the state’s Attorney General, challenging a $225 fee his office has charged a Roger Williams University Law School student in order to provide her copies of public reports that state law specifically requires[Read More…]

by January 29, 2021

UPDATE ON PORTSMOUTH POLITICAL SIGN BAN LAWSUIT CONTROVERSY

  Pending a ruling on the merits of the lawsuit filed against the Town on Friday, Portsmouth officials have agreed not to issue a summons to Michael DiPaola to enforce its sign ordinance for his display of signs on his property on Bristol Ferry Road. The agreement was made at[Read More…]

by January 26, 2021

ACLU FILES BRIEF IN U.S. SUPREME COURT IN MAJOR “SEARCH AND SEIZURE” CASE FROM RHODE ISLAND

Joining with groups that span the ideological spectrum, the American Civil Liberties Union of Rhode Island has filed a “friend of the court” brief in the U.S. Supreme Court in a case raising significant issues concerning the scope of Fourth Amendment protections and police warrantless searches of the home. The brief argues that[Read More…]

by January 25, 2021

ACLU SUES TOWN OF PORTSMOUTH OVER POLITICAL SIGN BAN

A federal lawsuit filed by ACLU of RI cooperating attorney Richard A. Sinapi challenges a Portsmouth town ordinance that bans the posting of political signs on residential property. The lawsuit is on behalf of town resident Michael DiPaola, who recently erected a series of signs on his property that express[Read More…]

by January 22, 2021

ACLU CALLS FOR STRONGER ACTION TO ADDRESS “PERSISTENT” PROVIDENCE POLICE BODY CAMERA VIOLATIONS   

  Citing repeated instances of police failing to activate their body cameras in high profile encounters with the public, the ACLU of Rhode Island has called on Providence Commissioner of Public Safety Steven Paré and Police Chief Hugh Clements, Jr. to take stronger steps, including establishing a more vigorous audit[Read More…]

by January 19, 2021

RIDE Education Commissh Bars NK School District From Punishing Children … For The “Sins of the Father”

  Responding to an appeal brought on behalf of two North Kingstown children by ACLU of RI cooperating attorney H. Jefferson Melish, R.I. Commissioner of Education Angélica Infante-Green ruled today that the school district could not ban the children from in-school learning solely because their parents had let them attend school last[Read More…]

by December 29, 2020