STATE HOUSE  --  Representative Daniel P. Reilly (R-District 72 Middletown, Portsmouth) has introduced legislation (H-7964), which would require that toll rates and the location of tolling facilities require General Assembly approval prior to the collection of any tolls or the construction of any tolling facilities. 
 
“My proposed legislation is a companion bill, to legislation submitted by Senator Marc A. Cote (D-District 24 North Smithfield, Woonsocket).  I fully support Senator Cote’s legislation, aimed at changing the recently passed RhodeWorks road-and-bridge repair program to require General Assembly oversight and approval over the amounts of tolls and the location of toll collection sites,” said Reilly. 
 
Reilly went on further to say, “When RhodeWorks was first considered, I wanted there to be a limit on the number of gantries, to limit DOT’s authority on ability to toll vehicles on RI roadways.  Since those changes weren’t adopted, I agree with Senator Cote that this is the best way forward to insure accountability at the RI DOT.”
 
Reilly says, “It is in the best interest of taxpayers that each branch of government provide a check on the others to prevent each from overstepping the boundaries of its authority.  It goes without saying that the legislative arm should have some oversight and control over the executive branch’s ability to set the prices and locations of tolls.”
 
Reilly’s legislation is co-sponsored by House Minority Leader Brian C. Newberry (R-District 48 North Smithfield, Burrillville) and Representative Anthony Giarrusso (R-District 30 East Greenwich, West Greenwich). 

Say Case Should be Referred to the Attorney General if Fraud is Found
 
STATE HOUSE  -- Representatives Patricia Morgan (R-District 26; Coventry, Warwick, West Warwick) and Blake Filippi (I-District 36; Block Island, Charlestown, South Kingstown, Westerly) are calling on Governor Raimondo to launch an investigation into potential fraud at the Rhode Island Department of Labor and Training, after an internal investigation exposed security gaps in the agency’s computer system.  Both Representatives Morgan and Filippi ask that the case be referred to R.I. Attorney General Peter Kilmartin’s office for prosecution if fraud is found.
 
A report issued March 21st by Auditor General, Dennis Hoyle, revealed that the computer systems at the R.I. Department of Labor and Training had inadequate security controls and allowed employees "to modify data within claimant applications without supervisory review or approval."
 
“It is truly disturbing to know staff were able to edit unemployment claimant information without any oversight,” said Morgan.  “Data could have been manipulated to wrongfully award unemployment benefits to someone not legally entitled to them. Hard-working Rhode Islanders cannot afford more wasteful spending.  The Governor’s office needs to launch an investigation to review all unemployment claimant information and determine whether or not it was entered correctly.  Taxpayers must not be on the hook for unentitled benefits.  If fraud was committed, those responsible must be referred to the Rhode Island Attorney General’s office for prosecution.” 
 
Representative Filippi echoed Morgan’s concerns: “Our benefit systems must be secure, and there must be a thorough accounting when it is determined there may have been security lapses. There is no way to know if the state overpaid unemployment claims unless a thorough audit is conducted.  If anyone was improperly paid, or overpaid, the state must recoup these monies. If anyone was improperly paid as a result of fraud, then the Attorney General should prosecute the offenders to the fullest extent of the law. The entire system of state benefits is built on the People’s faith that it is administered properly, and we have a solemn duty to ensure that it is.”
 
Representatives Morgan and Filippi ask that the Governor’s office investigate the legitimacy of all claims paid with the agency’s insecure computer system and seek reimbursement for any improperly paid benefits. Should it be determined that any monies were paid out as a result of fraud, Representatives Morgan and Filippi want the case referred to the Office of Attorney General for prosecution.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 

 STATE HOUSE -- Representative Blake A. Filippi (R-District 36 Charlestown, South Kingstown, Westerly, New Shoreham) has co-sponsored a resolution requesting that Governor Gina M. Raimondo seek an advisory opinion from the Rhode Island Supreme Court on the constitutionality of the RhodeWorks law.
 
“As lawmakers elected to protect the People, it is critical to learn whether or not the RhodeWorks law violates our state and federal constitutions – before we move forward with construction of this multi-million dollar state-wide tolling network,” said Rep. Filippi. 
 
“Governor Raimondo has the legal authority to request an opinion from the Supreme Court, an opinion the Supreme Court is mandated to provide pursuant to our state constitution.  Once the court renders its decision, we will know whether or not the RhodeWorks law is lawful. If, on the other hand, the state first spends money to erect toll facilities, and tolls are later found to be unconstitutional, the taxpayers will be saddled with this debt, or the tolls may have to be expanded to other classes of vehicles to cure the legal deficiencies,” said Filippi.   
 
“Therefore, obtaining this opinion before the state expends significant funds to erect this state-wide network of toll gantries is the only responsible way to proceed,” concluded Filippi.

###
​

Contact: Representative Dan Reilly
Tel: (401) 222-2259
Email: rep-Reilly@rilegislature.gov
 
Date:  March 15, 2016
 
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 
 
 
Representative Dan Reilly Disputes Constitutionality of RhodeWorks
and Wants Copy of RIDOT Legal Opinion
Rhode Island Taxpayers on the Hook for $450,000.00 but
RI DOT Refuses to Share Legal Opinion with House Finance Committee
 
STATE HOUSE  --  Representative Dan Reilly (R-District, 72 Middletown, Portsmouth) has filed an APRA request with the Rhode Island Department of Transportation, for the legal opinion, relating to work the out of state Connecticut based law firm Hawkins, Delafield & Wood, LLP conducted on state business, which is costing Rhode Island taxpayers nearly half a million dollars.
 
“The Rhode Island Department of Transportation claims RhodeWorks is constitutional, but refuses to tell us why,” said Reilly. “During a recorded House Finance Committee hearing on Feb. 3, 2016, DOT Director Peter Alviti agreed to provide me RI DOT’s legal analysis of the RhodeWorks program; however, following the House toll vote, Director Alviti refused to provide any clarifying information or legal opinions provided to RI DOT in a letter dated March 9, 2016, citing ‘privilege.’”
 
"I do not agree,” continued Reilly. “I call on the RI DOT to waive the right to privilege, to provide the legal opinion, before a negative ruling from the court harms Rhode Island.” 
 
“As a member of the House Finance Committee, and an elected member of the House of Representatives, it is my job to look out for the hardworking taxpayers of my district and all Rhode Islanders. I am disappointed, that Director Alviti has failed to keep this process open and transparent, after saying he would,” said Reilly. “Furthermore, why would the legal opinion not be given to the members of the House voting on it?” 
 
In his request, Reilly is requesting public expense records paid or owed to the law firm Hawkins Delafield & Wood, LLP, for work it conducted on House bill 7409.  Reilly seeks financial documentation, including any and all contract invoices, documents illustrating the employees who performed legal work with itemized hourly costs, an explanation for the manner in which the firm was selected, and any and all consultant bids for this contract, including information on consultants who were not awarded the contract.
###

TUESDAY, MARCH 15, 2016
FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT:
Philip Eil, 401-374-5868
Steven Brown, 401-831-7171
 
DURING SUNSHINE WEEK, ACLU SEEKS COURT ORDER FOR THE RELEASE OF DOCUMENTS A LOCAL JOURNALIST HAS SOUGHT FOR YEARS
 
The American Civil Liberties Union of Rhode Island has asked a federal court to order the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) to release thousands of pages of documents in support of its Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit on behalf of local journalist Philip Eil, who has been stymied for years in his effort to obtain from the DEA evidence disclosed at a major prescription drug-dealing trial. In its motion for summary judgment filed yesterday, the ACLU called for the release of  “the wrongfully withheld documents post haste.” 
 
In a 15-page memo, ACLU volunteer attorneys Neal McNamara and Jessica Jewell, from the law firm of Nixon Peabody, argue that the DEA has wrongfully withheld thousands of pages of evidence shown during the 2011 trial of Dr. Paul Volkman, whom the Department of Justice calls “the largest dispenser of oxycodone in the country from 2003 to 2005” and who is currently serving four consecutive life terms in prison. 
 
Requesting the prompt release of this trial evidence, McNamara and Jewell write, “The government cannot on the one hand hold this case up as an example of how it investigates and prosecutes diversion cases and on the other state that the majority of the evidence used to convict such a defendant is not actually available to the public.  FOIA is meant to prevent such ‘secret law.’ The general public clearly has an interest in knowing how Volkman was investigated and prosecuted.”  
In support of the motion, the memo further notes that the federal government itself has uploaded to a publicly accessible judicial records website some of the documents it continues to withhold from Eil. 
 
The ACLU’s legal memo was accompanied by an eight-page affidavit from Eil, in which he describes an array of obstacles he faced while covering the Volkman trial. Before the trial began, Eil says a DEA agent told him he could be charged with witness tampering for conducting interviews with potential witnesses. In 2011, while attending the trial, in Cincinnati, he was subpoenaed for testimony by the lead prosecutor and barred from re-entering the courtroom, though he was never actually called to testify. When he filed his FOIA request with the Department of Justice in February 2012, the agency took more than three years to fully respond, and withheld more than 85 percent of the pages it processed. Many of the pages released were significantly redacted.
 
“In 2009, when I learned of Volkman’s indictment, I set out to tell the story of a highly-educated man – my father’s former classmate – who became one of the most notorious prescription drug dealers in U.S. history,” Eil states in the affidavit. “As we approach the five-year anniversary of the verdict in that case . . . I am astonished that the vast majority of evidence from his trial remains sealed off to that case’s plaintiff: the American public.”
 
ACLU of Rhode Island executive director Steven Brown stated: “I am hopeful that the court will put a stop to the DEA’s flippant attitude towards the Freedom of Information Act.  The agency’s siege mentality in trying to wear out Mr. Eil through years of delays amounts to an appalling attack on the public’s right to know.”
 
The DEA (represented by the office of Rhode Island U.S. Attorney Peter Neronha), has until May 4th to respond to the ACLU’s motion, with rebuttal memos due in June and July. Oral argument will likely be heard before U.S. District Judge John McConnell, Jr. sometime later this year.
 
These filings take place during Sunshine Week, a week designated to educate the public about the importance of open government, and at a time of heightened criticism of President Barack Obama’s transparency record.  In 2015, the Associated Press reported that the Obama administration had “set a record again for censoring government files or outright denying access to them” in 2014. And, last week the Freedom of the Press Foundation reported that “the Obama administration - the self described ‘most transparent administration ever’ - aggressively lobbied behind the scenes in 2014 to kill modest Freedom of Information Act reform that had virtually unanimous support in Congress.”
 
Eil is an award-winning freelance journalist who served as the news editor and staff writer at the Providence Phoenix until the paper’s closing in 2014. He has since contributed to VICE, Salon, the Atlantic, Rhode Island Monthly, and elsewhere. He has conducted more than 100 interviews, across 19 states, for his book about the Volkman case.
 
A copy of the ACLU’s memo is available here: http://riaclu.org/images/uploads/Eil_Motion_for_Summary_Judgment.pdf 
A copy of Eil’s affidavit is available here: http://riaclu.org/images/uploads/Phil_Eil_Affidavit.pdf 

Steven Brown
Executive Director
ACLU of Rhode Island
128 Dorrance Street, Suite 220
Providence, RI 02903
(p) 401 831-7171
(f) 401 831-7175
www.riaclu.org

For Immediate Release
Wednesday, February 10, 2016
Ohio Libertarian Party
​
"Why compete for votes when you can use your gubernatorial powers to change or bend the law to quash your opponents?" That seems to be the attitude of Ohio Republican governor and presidential hopeful John Kasich.
Voters today strongly disapprove of the performance of both Democrats and Republicans in office and want more choices on the ballot. But Kasich denied them a choice when he helped to knock his competitor, Libertarian for Governor Charlie Earl, off the ballot in 2014.
Earl's campaign had collected enough signatures to be on the ballot. But Republican Secretary of State Jon Husted challenged his signatures. Courts eventually ruled to disqualify Earl along with Libertarian Steven Linnabary for attorney general on a technicality that had been only selectively enforced in the past.
Terry Casey, who worked for Kasich's 2010 gubernatorial campaign and whom Kasich later appointed to a $70,000-a-year job chairing the state personnel review board, hired the firm Zeiger, Tigges & Little to do the legal work needed to challenge the signatures.
"Ohio Republican Gov. John Kasich is unfit to be president," said Nicholas Sarwark, Chair of the Libertarian National Committee. "Not only does he play dirty, he's a big-spender who fights efforts by his own legislature to control costs."
As reported by the Cato Institute, spending increased in Ohio by 18 percent under Kasich's leadership, largely due to his support for expanding Medicaid in defiance of the Ohio House of Representatives. They had inserted a provision in the state budget forbidding the Kasich administration from expansion without their approval. Kasich stripped the provision from the budget and then proceeded to expand the program without their approval.
"We urge all Americans to vote Libertarian and strip big-government politicians like Kasich of their ability to rig elections, circumvent the law, and drive up government spending," said Sarwark.
"Kasich claims that Big Government schemes will mediate poverty, when in fact, Big Government is the primary cause of poverty throughout the world,” said Sarwark.
Kasich has said, “When you die and get to the meeting with St. Peter, he’s probably not going to ask you much about what you did about keeping government small. But he’s going to ask what you did for the poor. You better have a good answer.”
“Libertarians have the answer,” said Sarwark. “Vote against politicians like Kasich who raise taxes, raise government spending, rig elections, and kowtow to medical insurance companies that leave families impoverished."
In 2015, Kasich hastily signed Senate Bill 193, a law that revoked Ohio ballot access for any party other than that of the Republicans or Democrats.  The Libertarian Party of Ohio is suing to overturn the law.
Bob Bridges, Chair of the Ohio LP, remains determined to give Ohio voters a Libertarian choice.
“We will be on the ballot again. We aren't going away,” he said.

www.LPO.org
​

For More Information, Contact:
Name: Rep. Blake Filippi
Tel: 401-744-2242
Email: blakefilippi@blake36.com
Date:  March 9, 2016

​FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 
 
State Rep. Blake Filippi Introduces Bill to limit Law Enforcement Use of High-Tech Devices that Can Spy on the Public
 
New bill also backed by Republicans and Democrats targets use of Stingray device used to track and monitor cell phones
 
STATE HOUSE – A bill submitted by Rep. Blake Filippi (I-Dist. 36; Block Island, Charlestown, South Kingstown and Westerly) would require law enforcement to apply for a judicial order to use Stingray cell-site simulators in the course of their work. The legislation (2016-H 7681) adds stingrays to a list of other devices law enforcement use to track phones and other data.
 
Stingray devices act as cellular phone towers that connect with nearby cellular phones without owner consent. The stingray device can then track personally identifiable data and the location of the connected phones.
 
“Stingrays can be used to monitor our phone calls and data, track our movement and even to determine the identity of all persons with phones in a given area – like a group of protestors for example. Stingrays can also sweep up data from non-targeted persons,” explained Filippi.
 
“A Stingray’s ability to peer into our private lives is immense. We need to be sure that the scope of data collection is controlled and limited through the judicial warrant process. Our bill outlines specific steps that law enforcement would need to follow in order to use one of these intrusive devices – the same criteria that already exist for pen registers and trap and trace devices. As technology evolves, we need to be sure our laws keep up with the times so that our privacy is protected,” said Filippi.
 
Co-sponsors of the bill are Rep. Christopher R. Blazejewski (D-District 02, Providence), Rep. J. Aaron Regunberg (D-District 04, Providence), Rep. Michael Chippendale (R-District 40, Foster, Glocester, Coventry) and Rep. Justin K. Price (R-District 39, Exeter, Hopkinton, Richmond).
 

MEDIA ADVISORY
FRIDAY, MARCH 4, 2016
FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT: Johanna Kaiser, 401-831-7171

HEARING SCHEDULED IN ACLU OF RI LAWSUIT OVER UNLAWFUL DETENTION BY IMMIGRATION OFFICIALS

MONDAY, MARCH 7, at 1:30 P.M. attorneys for the American Civil Liberties Union of Rhode Island and the ACLU Immigrants’ Rights Project will argue in support of its motion for summary judgment in its federal lawsuit on behalf of Ada Morales, a North Providence resident who has twice been detained as a deportable “alien” even though she is a U.S. citizen. The hearing is before U.S. District Judge John J. McConnell, Jr.

The ACLU’s lawsuit alleges that federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials and Rhode Island officials often bypass Constitutional requirements and safeguards when they detain individuals on immigration grounds.

In February 2014, Judge McConnell held that there are critical constitutional limits on the power of immigration and corrections officials to detain people while investigating their immigration status and that Ms. Morales “has set forth plausible allegations that she was unconstitutionally detained solely based on her national origin and Hispanic last name.”  In July of 2015, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit upheld that ruling.

A decision on the motion for summary judgment is expected at a later date.

More information and documents regarding this case are available here: http://riaclu.org/court-cases/case-details/morales-v.-chadbourne

WHO: ACLU of RI and ACLU Immigrants’ Rights Project attorneys on behalf of North Providence resident Ada Morales

WHAT: Hearing on a motion for summary judgment in the ACLU lawsuit challenging unconstitutional immigration enforcement practices

WHERE: U.S. District Court for Rhode Island, 1 Exchange St., Providence, RI 02903

WHEN: Monday, March 7, 2016 at 1:30 P.M.

-- 
Johanna Kaiser
Development & Communications Associate
ACLU of Rhode Island
128 Dorrance Street, Suite 220
Providence, RI 02903
P: (401) 831-7171
F: (401) 831-7175
www.riaclu.org