To: The Rhode Island State House, The Rhode Island State Senate, and Governor Gina Raimondo

Stop heavy-handed anti-protest laws

We oppose making new "Interference with Traffic" laws in RI that can set harsh sentences for people who go onto the paved area of certain streets. These laws are heavy-handed and risk being used in unjust ways.

Why is this important?

Some RI lawmakers responded to a protest on a freeway against police abuses by proposing misguided laws on "interference with traffic"(S129, H5192). These bills apply not just to freeways but to many streets as well, can be used against someone inadvertently standing in the road as well as peaceful picketers or homeless people, propose an extended jail sentence as a penalty, and permit the threat of felony charges against those who have caused little or no harm. Whether last year's freeway protest against police abuses was right or wrong, it's a bad idea to respond by just giving the police more excessive power.
http://webserver.rilin.state.ri.us/BillText/BillText15/SenateText15/S0129.pdf