Political Surveillance in Rhode Island

Two extremely significant bills addressing political surveillance—one favorable and one damaging to civil liberties—are pending in the Rhode Island General Assembly. Your immediate help is needed to make legislators aware of the importance of curtailing government spying.

One bill would give state and local police broad powers to obtain access to your telephone records and Internet subscriber information with no judicial oversight. This bill must be stopped. Contact your state representative and urge them to oppose S-2450 and its companion measure H-7525. This bill has already passed the senate; you can learn more about it here.

The second bill, sponsored by Rep. Edith Ajello, prohibits state and local law enforcement from collecting information about the political, religious or social views of individuals or groups unless the information is directly related to a criminal investigation. It has been passed by the RI House of Representatives and is currently pending before the Senate Judiciary Committee. Urge your Senator to support the bill, and learn more about it here.

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Providence, RI - Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Carl Sheeler challenged the proposed Rhode Island General Assembly legislation, S-2450 and its H-7525, to expand "police powers" calling it a dark day on Rhode Island.

Sheeler stated "This bill brings us to the brink of a Soviet-style police state. It's a stain on our constitutional rights of privacy. The room for abuse without a warrant is extreme.

“Assume I'm politically connected and I claim you're a public threat, make a few calls and your current and past personal phone history, your internet use, your bank records, your credit card statements and your personal life is exposed. History tells us J. Edgar Hoover kept thousands of files on political enemies. Not enemies of the public or the state - his.

“People's lives were destroyed or held hostage for the perception of wrong doing. We need to protect our children from predators and the public from terrorist, but we have a system of checks and balances for a reason to minimize abuses and to increase accountability."