Firewall for Freedom: Protecting Rhode Island

Free speech and expression are critical rights, especially in a time when we expect to be calling out injustices in the years ahead. While Rhode Islanders already have some protections from retaliatory government practices, we face an incoming presidential administration that will likely enable censorship and has suggested they will activate the U.S. military against its own citizens. We want to ensure our state has as many defenses as possible in place to protect our First Amendment rights — the freedom of speech and expression, of the press, to assembly, to choose whether and how you practice religion, and to petition the government.

ADDRESSING THREATS

• National Guard Restrictions We will be pressing state officials to take any official actions they can to prevent the deputization of the state National Guard to quell First Amendment-protected protests.
• Freedom to Read Bill This legislative session, we’ll be calling on legislators to strengthen and pass legislation to protect libraries and librarians from censorship. The Freedom to Read Bill would explicitly make it state policy to support and protect libraries and librarians from censorship attempts.
• Affirmative Defense to Crime of Obscenity We will once again be pushing for passage of a bill that would limit the reach of our state’s obscenity statutes to exclude works that have educational value.

EXISTING PROTECTIONS

• Rhode Island already has strong protections against SLAPP suits (“Strategic Litigation Against Public Participation”) which are used to chill freedom of speech. The Rhode Island law gives “conditional immunity” to the exercise of the right of petition or free speech so, for example, efforts to sue you for defamation for comments you make against government officials or in public forums can be quickly dismissed.

As seen by the U.S. Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe v. Wade, and the continuous attacks against transgender peoples’ rights across the country, the freedom to be ourselves and make our own heath care decisions is at risk. Here in Rhode Island, we already have a set of state laws protecting fundamental LGBTQ+ rights, reproductive healthcare, and gender affirming healthcare. We are looking to shore up privacy laws to protect from disclosure reproductive health data that could be at risk.

ADDRESSING THREATS:

• Data Privacy Legislation We will be working for the passage of legislation that would provide privacy protections over the release of reproductive health data to third parties.

EXISTING PROTECTIONS

• Last year, Rhode Island legislators passed the Healthcare Provider Shield Act, which lowers the risk that Rhode Island medical providers will be penalized if they treat a patient coming from a state that has banned access to established, standard-of-care reproductive and transgender health care.

• The right to abortion has been codified in Rhode Island law since 2019, when the Reproductive Privacy Act was passed, and Medicaid funding for the procedure was enshrined in state law in 2023.

• Protections for LGBTQ+ folks have been a part of Rhode Island law since 1995, when a law was passed to prohibit discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation. That law was strengthened to include protections regardless of gender identity and expression in 2001.

• Marriage equality has been codified in Rhode Island law since 2013.
• Rhode Island Medicaid rules protect and cover trans and non-binary individuals for the majority of the care they need.

Whether you’re part of the LGBTQ+ community or an ally, take a few minutes to read our Know Your Rights materials about LGBTQ+ rights in the workplace, trans rights, and LGBTQ+ students' rights so you can be prepared to identify injustices.

Some of the most consistent rhetoric expressed by the incoming presidential administration is threatening the rights and liberties of immigrants. While Rhode Island has some important protections in place and opportunities available for undocumented immigrants, we will continue to help protect our immigrant neighbors across the state.

ADDRESSING THREATS

• State Enforcement of Immigration Law As we did in the first Trump term, we will be organizing efforts to have municipalities adopt ordinances that bar their police departments from being deputized to enforce federal immigration law.

• 364 Day Misdemeanor Bill We’re working to get a bill enacted that would refine the definitions of felony and misdemeanor to protect immigrants – including lawful permanent residents – from deportation for minor offenses.

EXISTING PROTECTIONS

• A 2022 law called Driver’s Licenses for All makes it possible for undocumented individuals to obtain a driver’s license and drive legally.
• Rhode Island allows undocumented immigrant students who have lived in Rhode Island the right to qualify for in-state tuition at state schools. The state’s Rite Track program also ensures that all lower-income children, regardless of immigration status, qualify for health insurance.

• As a result of ACLU litigation, limits have been imposed on the ability of immigration officials to order state and municipal officials to turn individuals over to them without a warrant.

Be informed: Learn about what to do if you’re stopped by police, immigration, or the FBI and learn more generally about immigrants’ rights here!

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Learn more about the difference between the ACLU Foundation and the Union here.

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