Marriage Equality

All loving and committed couples deserve equal protection under the law!

We know that 59% of Rhode Islanders support marriage equality, but our opposition is well-organized and mobilized. That's why it is so important to make your voice heard!

Why Marriage Matters

• Many committed same-sex couples already share the same responsibilities as different-sex couples, but do not and cannot receive the same recognitions or protections for their families as married couples.

• Without the ability to marry, same-sex couples and their children are deprived of thousands of legal and economic protections.

• Marriage creates family — it allows two people who aren't related to become each other's closest kin. There's no other, legal, universally accepted way to do that. A same-sex couple could live together and care for each other for decades and still be considered legal strangers without marriage.

Status

• Within days of start of the legislative session Representative Handy and Senator Perry introduced marriage equality bills in the House and Senate (H.5012 and S.29).

• Hundreds of people turned out at to MERI State House Rally on February 8th to show their support for marriage equality.

• The House Judiciary Committee held hearings late into the night on February 8th with Senate Judiciary following them on March 10th, where marriage equality supporters greatly outnumbered those who oppose full equality for same-sex couples.

• Visit www.marriageequalityri.org or contact This e-mail address is being protected from spambots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it for more info.

Racial Profiling

We are working with the ACLU and the Coalition Against Racial Profiling to increase transparency and accountability for local law enforcement to protect communities of color and immigrant communities from racially motivated targeting. The Comprehensive Racial Profiling Prevention Act would:

• Require police to have probable cause for conducting a search, including when searching minors.

• End "pretext stops" where police use a traffic violation as an excuse to pull a car over for another reason.

• Increase transparency by requiring police departments to publicly disclose any arrangements they have with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

• Bar police from asking drivers for identification beyond license, registration, and proof insurance during a routine traffic stop.

Unshackling Pregnant Incarcerated Women

When pregnant women are shackled the restraints used can harm the woman or the fetus during transportation to court and hospital visits. At the hospital, these restraints can also interfere with and delay important medical care. Ocean State Action is working with our allies at DARE and the ACLU to pass the Healthy Pregnancies for Incarcerated Women Act.

This law would ensure that:

• The least restrictive restraints necessary will be used on any incarcerated woman in her second or third trimester of pregnancy

• No restraints of any kind will be used on any pregnant inmate while being transported to a hospital, during labor, delivery, or postpartum recovery.

• If corrections officers determine that a pregnant inmate is a risk of harming herself or others, the least restrictive restraints necessary would be used. The reasons justifying the use of restraints would be made public record.

• Doctors, nurses, and other health professionals would be empowered to require removal of restraints if they interfere with medical care.

• Under no circumstances will leg or waist restraints be used on a pregnant inmate during labor and delivery.

Ban the Box – Ending hiring discrimination against the formerly incarcerated

It is well established that the path to stability for the formerly incarcerated is through employment. But simply asking "have you been convicted of a felony?" on a job application is a major barrier to finding employment. First, it sends a message to the applicant that it is hopeless to apply. Second, it allows employers to scrap an application without so much as an interview.

The Ban the Box legislation would:

• Allow applicants to explain their criminal record, face to face in a job interview.

• Allow an applicant to present evidence about the accuracy and/or relevance of their criminal record.

Ban the Box would NOT:

• Override any law that prevents people with felonies from working in particular occupations or with vulnerable populations, such as with children, the elderly, or in financial work.

• Force employers to hire felons.

PIPP – Percentage of Income Payment Plan

• PIPP would establish a percentage of income payment plan for LIHEAP eligible customers of regulated utilities, not to exceed 8% of a household's income, with a maximum benefit of $150/month.

• A forgiveness program would be included which would ensure that arrearages would be wiped out after three consecutive years of making monthly PIPP payments.

• The program would be funded by a combination of federal LIHEAP money and a small volumetric surcharge on all ratepayers.

• The surcharge would be less than the amount paid now by ratepayers for bad debt incurred by the utility company, and the cost of shutoffs -- both financial and social --- would be mitigated.