The Supreme Court Ruled, What Now?

This case asks whether state officials in Rhode Island can be held liable for their discriminatory acts under the Rhode Island Civil Rights Act (RICRA), a state anti-discrimination law. The State of Rhode Island asserts that it has sovereign immunity as to claims brought under the RICRA and therefore cannot be sued for damages for violating that law. The State Supreme Court Initiative and the ACLU of Rhode Island filed an amicus brief arguing that the State is wrong: discrimination claims under the RICRA are covered by the State Tort Claims Act’s broad waiver of state sovereign immunity for “all actions of torts.” Thus, state officials may be held liable when they engage in discrimination prohibited by the RICRA, allowing harmed Rhode Islanders to seek redress.

By rolling back “disparate impact” rules, the administration threatens decades of progress against systemic discrimination in housing, jobs, and education.

ACLU Justice Division leader Ellen Flenniken saw people across the country come together to stand up for free speech, protest peacefully, and show that our power grows when we act as one.

WASHINGTON — Over seven million people across the country peacefully and lawfully gathered today to express their First Amendment rights at more than 2,700 events across all 50 states and send a clear message to the Trump administration: The American people will not accept attempts to undermine our democracy and take away our freedoms. In reaction to the historic protests, Deirdre Schifeling, Chief Political and Advocacy Officer for the American Civil Liberties Union, issued the following statement: “Today, millions of people showed that we, the people, will not be silenced. We came together in community to do the most patriotic and American thing we can: exercising our First Amendment rights by peacefully and lawfully protesting President Trump’s abuses of power. We’ll continue to channel the courage of these protests to keep showing up for our communities — and the ACLU will do everything in our power to defend our freedom of speech, press, and assembly. Despite the Trump administration’s threats, no president can take this cornerstone of our democracy away from us.”