Threats of Violence (H 7308 & S 2395)

We opposed this legislation which would have carved out a new crime for the making of threats of mass violence and false reports of threats to any education or religious institution, or any social, civic, or fraternal associations. Not only does Rhode Island already have many statutes which address the actions covered by this bill, but we also noted that, in years past, our organization has worked with students whose school assignments have been wrongly interpreted as communicating threats and expressed concerns that this legislation would enable similar inappropriate instances. This bill died in committee in both the House and the Senate.