Blockchain has a far-right past. Does it have a future in Rhode Island?
Here is a list of some of the figures who have shown interest in bitcoin cryptocurrency and its associated “blockchain” technology: white nationalist Richard Spencer, who called bitcoin “the currency of the alt right.” Former Trump chief strategist Steve Bannon, who has had private meetings with cryptocurrency investors. Peter Thiel, the PayPal founder and libertarian […]
ACLU files second class action lawsuit against UHIP
Rhode Island put low-income residents “at risk of losing their homes and their utilities and deprives them of funds needed for their daily living expenses, including food,” by removing them from a popular Medicaid program without proper notice, according to a new class action lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union of Rhode Island. It […]
ACLU weighs in on police killing of Joseph Santos
“Many questions remain unanswered” after State and Providence police officers killed Joseph Santos and injured Christine Demers when they fired more than 40 bullets into a pickup truck Santos rammed into an occupied car to elude capture, said the American Civil Liberties Union of Rhode Island in announcing a five-page “preliminary analysis” of the incident. […]
Woman lost Twin River job because she wouldn’t help RI State Police
Either cooperate with the Rhode Island State Police or lose your job. That’s the choice Marissa Lacoste, a 25-year-old former cocktail waitress at Twin River Casino, had to make after she was found with less than an ounce of cannabis and subsequently asked to help State Police with an ongoing investigation at the casino in […]
South Kingstown passes Immigrant Protection Ordinance
Rebuking the Trump Administration’s increase in immigration enforcement, the South Kingstown Town Council passed last night what it calls the Immigrant Protection Ordinance. The new law, approved on a 3 to 2 vote, prevents local police officers from enforcing federal immigration rules, unless so ordered by a federal judge. “My family,” Council Vice President Abel Collins […]
Survey illustrates challenges for transgender and gender non-conforming Rhode Islanders
“The findings reveal disturbing patterns of mistreatment and discrimination and startling disparities between transgender people in the survey and the US population…”
Judge Licht says Smithfield can’t curtail rights of medical cannabis growers
Smithfield can’t restrict the rights of state-licensed medical cannabis growers through its zoning ordinance, said Superior Court Judge Richard Licht in putting a temporary injunction on the town’s new zoning ordinance that restricted caregivers from 12 to 2 plants, among other reductions in their rights. “This decision confirms the legitimacy of Rhode Island’s medical marijuana […]
Revised State Police policy on ICE detainers interrogated by advocacy groups
“We don’t enforce immigration law, we’re not immigration agents, we don’t even go down that road… The most important thing here is that we want to investigate the crimes that people are bringing to us.”
Many states avoid the AG in prosecuting public record violations
Many states don’t use their attorney general to enforce state public records laws, according to a spreadsheet created by the New England First Amendment Coalition. While 20 states, including Rhode Island, rely on the attorney general, the majority do not. The spreadsheet is a starting point as AccessRI seeks to move enforcement of the state […]
ACCESS RI wants to move APRA enforcement from Attorney General’s office
Among civil libertarians and transparency activists, Attorney General Peter Kilmartin has a particularly poor reputation with regard to enforcing the public records law.
Judge sides with ACLU, puts Cranston’s anti-panhandling law on hold
Feel free to panhandle or leaflet on a public roadway in Cranston as the city’s ban has been halted by a federal judge. In granting a temporary restraining order sought by the plaintiffs, Judge William Smith wrote in a decision released today, “Defendants are hereby enjoined from enforcing the Ordinance until further order of the […]
Federal judge could halt Cranston panhandling prohibition this week
Cranston’s panhandling and leafleting ban on public roadways could be sidelined as early as this week, depending on how US District Court Judge William Smith rules on a request for a temporary restraining order in Rhode Island Homeless Advocacy Project v. Cranston. ‘There are some close calls here so I’m going to take it under […]
Once again, the ACLU sues Cranston over panhandling
“It is unfortunate that Cranston has seen fit to enact another problematic anti-panhandling ordinance after acknowledging the unconstitutionality of its previous ordinance. The valuable tax dollars being spent to criminalize poverty could be put to much better use alleviating it.”
Raimondo urged to veto bill that pits police against patient privacy
“We are concerned that these bills, if signed into law, may drive patients ‘underground’ and away from the care that they need and have the unintended effect of increasing the number of overdoses.”
UUs collect hundreds of letters to protect immigrant rights at Pride
“Police enforce criminal law, but immigration law is civil. Using police to enforce civil law is unconstitutional,” said Jim Cowan, speaking for the Standing on the Side of Love Committee at First Unitarian Church in Providence.
DHS report shows lack of improvement in processing SNAP Benefits
The Department of Human Services showed virtually no improvement in April in the timely processing of SNAP (food stamp) applications, including for people the Department acknowledges were entitled to emergency relief.
DHS still far behind on SNAP benefit applications
By the end of August, DHS must timely decide 96 percent of SNAP expedited and regular applications. The federal court will retain jurisdiction of the case for at least one year after the state first achieves the 96 percent compliance rate.
RI rebukes Trump’s executive order, demonstrates true meaning of religious freedom
President Donald Trump‘s definition of religious freedom was rebuked Thursday by 8 Rhode Island faith leaders representing Muslim, Christian and Jewish traditions. They stood on the steps of the First Baptist Church in America, founded by Roger Williams, who established Rhode Island as the first government, anywhere on earth, to protect the rights of freedom […]
Providence Housing Authority finally makes changes to admissions policy
DARE’s Behind the Walls Committee has made enormous strides in winning changes to the Providence Housing Authority’s admissions policies toward the goal of eliminating the discrimination against community members with criminal records.
Reproductive Justice Coalition demands state level Roe v Wade protections
The Rhode Island Coalition for Reproductive Justice gathered to voice their support for the Reproductive Health Care Act, a bill that would protect safe and legal abortion in Rhode Island.
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