Civil Liberties

ACLU Rhode Island & Public Justice Files Reply Brief In Lawsuit Challenging Brown University’s Violation of Title IX

“Plaintiffs filed their Motion to Enforce both because President Paxson admitted in advance that Brown would be in violation of the Joint Agreement if it took the actions it has taken and because the historical participation numbers at Brown prove that what President Paxson announced to the Brown community on[Read More…]

by September 12, 2020

Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Neronha Allows Police To Hide Records Of Misconduct

At a time when the Black Lives Matter movement has prompted demands for more police accountability in Rhode Island and across the country, the state Attorney General’s office has issued an Access to Public Records Act (APRA) opinion which makes it more difficult for the public to monitor allegations of misconduct by[Read More…]

by August 26, 2020

ACLU OF RI SUES ON BEHALF OF BLACK RECRUIT DRUMMED OUT OF THE PROVIDENCE POLICE ACADEMY

  The ACLU of Rhode Island has today filed a federal lawsuit charging the Providence Police Department with race discrimination and other violations of the rights of a Black recruit who was involuntarily dismissed last year from the Police Academy just a few weeks before graduation and after enduring months of harassment[Read More…]

by August 18, 2020

SCOTUS Rejects GOP Effort to Force Rhode Islanders to Risk Their Health to Vote During COVID-19

In an important win for voting rights, the Supreme Court today rejected efforts by the Republican National Committee and Rhode Island Republican Party to try and block Rhode Island from eliminating witness/notary requirements for vote by mail in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic The state had agreed to drop the[Read More…]

by August 14, 2020

Stockton University Drops Five Charges For Student’s Political Facebook Status-Disruption Charge Remains

Stockton University drops five charges for student’s political Facebook status, disruption charge remains Amid public backlash, Stockton now claims student’s Facebook status, not his Zoom background of Trump, is the “substantial disruption” warranting the charge Student still faces probation, community service, a decision-making workshop, and a fine for expressing his[Read More…]

by August 12, 2020

Tina Pedersen & Congressman Langevin, Michael Matracia & Alyssa Gleason on the ADA 30th Anniversary

  A Very Special Evening … As Tina G Pedersen, President of RAMP:Real Access Motivates Progress. Celebrates & Commemorates The 30th Anniversary of the ADA America With Disabilities Act. Joining Tina: Alyssa Gleason: Rhode Island Governor’s Commission On Planning … Michael Matracia: Providence Policeman & The Honorable James Langevin: United[Read More…]

by August 9, 2020

Court Challenge Filed to Brown University’s Abandonment of Gender Equity in Athletics Program

More than twenty years after a precedent-setting court victory finding that Brown University violated federal Title IX law by engaging in gender-based discrimination in the school’s athletics program, legal representatives who secured an agreement requiring gender equity for those programs have returned to court, alleging the school is breaking that[Read More…]

by July 1, 2020

FBI Agents Attempt to Question Providence Activist at Their Home!

Providence, RI: On the evening of Thursday, June 11 at about 5 PM, two FBI agents attempted to question a member of the FANG Collective at their home. The person who was targeted by the  is choosing to remain anonymous. The FBI agents entered from a back stairway through an[Read More…]

by June 16, 2020

BREAKING! STATEMENT ON CURFEWS FROM RHODE ISLAND ACLU

Below is a statement from the ACLU of RI on the imposition of curfews this evening by the cities of Cranston, Providence and Warwick. We believe they are extraordinary, unnecessary, and, ironically, likely to lead to discriminatory enforcement by police.   “The imposition of blanket curfews within three cities in[Read More…]

by June 2, 2020

ACLU SUES PAWTUCKET SCHOOL OFFICIALS OVER UNLAWFUL ARREST OF 13-YEAR-OLD HONORS STUDENT

As conflict over race-based discriminatory police practices permeates the country, ACLU of RI cooperating attorneys Shannah Kurland and Lynette Labinger today filed suit in federal court over a Pawtucket School Resource Officer’s (SRO) gratuitous and unlawful handcuffing and arrest last year of Tre’sur Johnson, a 13-year-old African-American honors student at Goff Middle[Read More…]

by June 2, 2020