2022 RI General Assembly Civil Liberties Rankings

Discover which elected officials have voted to protect your rights and civil liberties here in Rhode Island

Summary of Our Findings

Civil Liberties Rankings in the Senate were down this year only slightly from 2021, with an average score of 65.2 vs. 69.5 in 2021. Senators Mendes and Miller returned to the top 5 for the 2nd year in a row. The House, however, showed a significant slump from 2021, with an average score of just 54 vs. a respectable 76 in 2021. Representatives Blazejewski and Solomon, Jr. again reached the Top 5 for the 2nd year in a row. Rep. Kislak has the distinction of being the only representative to make the Top 10 in all 3 years that RI Rank has produced this segment.

Of the three categories of Civil Liberties in this segment, Senators performed best on the Civil Rights segment (avg. score 69) while lagging in Student and Worker rights with an average score of just 49. It should be noted that because Senate leadership killed every bill in that category except one, most members ended up with a score of N/A. Performance in the House was markedly different, with the Criminal Justice category averaging a score of just 29 among all members. However, with several good Student & Worker Rights bills making it to the floor, the average House member scored a respectable 75 in this category.

In contrast to the Open Government segment, only 6 bills (19%) that were opposed by the RI ACLU were passed into law. Meanwhile, 17 bills supported by the RI ACLU were passed this year, demonstrating the legislature's better record with Civil Liberties. However, the General Assembly still came up short this year, killing important bills that would provide common sense reforms. Just a sampling of those bills include:

A bill that would include abortion coverage for those on state health insurance programs.
A bill to decriminalize sex work.
A bill to ensure all Internet traffic is treated fairly by Internet providers doing business in RI.
A bill that would provide a report showing the amount of taxes immigrants pay in the state of RI.
A bill to appeal the requirement that all voters have a government-issued ID to vote.
A bill to regulate license plate readers currently in use in the City of Providence and other municipalities
A bill to ban the use of privately run prisons, which profit based on the number of inmates they house.
A bill to restrict law enforcement's use of force to only when necessary, and creates a civil rights violation when excessive force is used.
A bill to abolish life sentences without the chance of parole.
A bill to eliminate cash bail for all misdemeanors except those deemed high risk.
A bill to prevent anyone 14 years old or younger from being placed in a juvenile detention center unless the committed a capital crime.
A bill establish proper procedures and rules for using "solitary confinement", commonly considered the most severe form of torture.
A bill to repeal the Law Enforcement Officers Bill of Rights, which gives police extra rights when they commit a crime that ordinary civilians do not receive.
A bill to abolish the practice of considering those serving life sentences "civilly dead" and the denial of rights they would otherwise be entitled to.

2022 By the Numbers

Civil Rights Bills Supported by the RI ACLU

Supported Civil Rights Bills Passed into Law

Criminal Justice Bills Supported by the RI ACLU

Supported Criminal Justice Bills Passed into Law

Student/Worker Rights Bills Supported by the RI ACLU

Supported Student/Worker Rights Bills Passed into Law

How We Ranked Civil Liberties Voting Records

We evaluated the 92 civil liberties-related bills with assigned Senate and House bill numbers in which the RI ACLU publicly supported or opposed during the 2022 legislative year.

Members were awarded a point for floor votes that supported RI ACLU's position, and zero points if they opposed their position, abstained, or were absent from the vote. If a member recused themselves due to a conflict of interest, the bill was not counted on their record. Those serving on committees that voted on an applicable bill were awarded a point for a vote that aligned with the ACLU position, and zero points for a vote that did not support the ACLU position (a "No" vote or choosing not to vote - "NV"). An absence or recusal from a committee vote was not counted at all.

If a committee voted to hold an applicable bill for further study, and it was never taken up again in that session, the bill is considered dead and all members of the committee that voted to hold it for further study were recorded as opposing the bill.

NOTE: RI Rank is not affiliated with the RI ACLU. Based on their long track record and long-standing nonpartisan approach to legislation, we reference the bills in their legislative agenda and their support/opposition of said bills for our scoring in this segment. The RI ACLU publishes their own scorecard which indicates how a legislator voted on the most important civil liberties bills that reached the floor. We feel this approach allows House and Senate leadership to effectively determine the contents of the scorecard, which can create a bias towards those siding with leadership. For this reason and others, RI Rank also includes all committee votes, ensuring members of the General Assembly are accountable for every vote made during the session.

Senate Civil Liberties Rankings

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#	Senator	Dist	Score	Civil Rights	Criminal Justice	Worker & Student Rights
1	Bell, S	5	94	89	100	N/A
2	Calkin, J	30	88	88	100	N/A
3	Mendes, C	18	86	71	100	N/A
4	Miller, J	28	83	89	75	N/A
4	DiMario, A	36	83	89	75	N/A
6	Lawson, V	14	82	89	71	N/A
6	Valverde, B	35	82	89	71	N/A
8	McCaffrey, M	29	80	88	67	N/A
9	Goodwin, M	1	79	86	67	N/A
9	Murray, M	24	79	86	67	N/A
11	Acosta, J	16	73	75	67	N/A
11	Pearson, R	19	73	75	67	N/A
11	Sosnowski, S	37	73	75	67	N/A
14	Felag, W	10	71	71	67	N/A
14	Anderson, K	31	71	71	67	N/A
16	Ciccone, F	7	69	75	67	N/A
16	Algiere, D	38	69	67	67	N/A
18	Goldin, G	3	67	70	67	50
19	Gallo, H	27	65	83	67	40
20	Mack, T	6	64	57	67	N/A
20	Kallman, M	15	64	57	67	N/A
22	Morgan, E	34	62	50	67	N/A
23	Cano, S	8	61	71	67	40
24	Picard, R	20	59	56	67	N/A
24	Lombardo, F	25	59	56	67	N/A
26	Seveney, J	11	58	63	67	40
26	DiPalma, L	12	58	63	67	40
28	de la Cruz, J	23	57	53	64	N/A
29	Euer, D	13	56	63	48	N/A
30	Coyne, C	32	54	63	46	67
30	Archambault, S	22	54	54	52	67
32	Ruggerio, D	4	53	63	48	38
33	Burke, J	9	52	62	44	50
34	Quezada, A	2	51	67	41	43
35	Paolino, T	17	50	50	67	25
35	Lombardi, F	26	50	52	46	67
37	Rogers, G	21	49	53	46	N/A
38	Raptakis, L	33	43	42	42	67

How We Rank

Score is the percentage of the senator's floor and committee votes that supported the RI ACLU position (committee votes were only counted if the senator was present for the vote).

A minimum of 3 votes were required per category to be given a score, otherwise the senator was given a score of N/A. However, their votes in the category still counted towards their overall score.

Scores above 80 are considered "Excellent", scores between 50 - 79 are "OK", and scores below 50 are considered "Poor". The maximum possible score is 100. The lowest possible score is 0.

Bills Scored

All bills reference the RI ACLU's legislative agenda, in which they publicly supported or opposed each piece of legislation. Bills in red were opposed by the ACLU (a "no" vote is scored positively).

Civil Rights
S2242, S2762, S2549, S2766, S2713, S2716, S2386, S2387, S2625, S2626, S2486A, S2030, S2395, S2595, S2006A, S2381, S2187, S2097, S2096, S2617A, and S2430A.

Criminal Justice
S2650, S2510, S2509, S2367, S2371, S2913, S2379, S2643, S2399, S2382, S2228, S2631, S2380, S2178A, S2799, S2213, S2701, S2227, S2641, S2108, S2370, S2808, and S2612A.

Worker & Student Rights
S2662, S2124, S2436, S2289, S2778, S2095, and S2578.

House Civil Liberties Rankings

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#	Representative	Dist	Score	Civil Rights	Criminal Justice	Worker & Student Rights
1	Blazejewski, C	2	75	75	33	100
1	Solomon, Jr., J	22	75	75	33	100
3	Kislak, R	4	73	80	33	86
4	Morales, D	7	71	75	25	100
4	Cortvriend, T	72	71	75	25	100
4	Ruggiero, D	74	71	75	25	100
7	Fogarty, K	35	69	60	33	100
7	Kazarian, K	63	69	75	33	78
9	Amore, G	65	68	67	33	80
10	Potter, B	16	67	57	33	100
10	Tanzi, T	34	67	75	25	86
10	Kennedy, B	38	67	50	25	100
10	Shalcross Smith, M	46	67	80	25	78
10	Donovan, S	69	67	63	33	86
10	McGaw, M	71	67	75	25	86
16	Handy, A	18	65	57	25	100
16	McNamara, J	19	65	80	33	67
16	Henries, B	64	65	75	33	70
16	Abney, M	73	65	57	40	88
16	Carson, L	75	65	67	20	100
21	Biah, N	3	64	67	33	80
21	Casimiro, J	31	64	73	44	100
21	Ackerman, M	45	64	60	33	83
21	Barros, J	59	64	57	40	80
21	Speakman, J	68	64	50	33	100
26	Marszalkowski, A	52	63	67	40	75
26	Alzate, K	60	63	80	33	63
28	Ranglin-Vassell, M	5	62	75	33	67
28	Hull, R	6	62	57	40	78
28	Baginski, J	17	62	43	40	89
28	McLaughlin, J	57	62	60	33	80
32	Place, D	47	61	46	65	71
33	Slater, S	10	60	57	40	75
33	Azzinaro, S	37	60	43	33	100
33	Phillips, R	51	60	60	33	71
36	Williams, A	9	59	75	33	60
36	Messier, M	62	59	75	20	69
36	Edwards, J	70	59	57	40	70
39	Diaz, G	11	58	29	50	88
39	Lima, C	14	58	50	33	80
39	Serpa, P	27	58	25	33	100
42	Hawkins, B	53	56	50	33	67
42	O'Brien, W	54	56	67	0	75
42	Giraldo, J	56	56	63	33	57
45	Shanley, E	24	53	75	20	63
45	Cardillo, E	42	53	50	33	60
45	Newberry, B	48	53	50	25	67
45	Casey, S	50	53	50	33	63
49	Nardone, G	28	52	43	33	70
50	Caldwell, J	30	50	64	28	89
50	Cassar, L	66	50	50	0	80
52	Filippi, B	36	47	75	33	44
52	Quattrocchi, R	41	47	29	50	63
54	Knight, J	67	46	62	26	100
55	Shekarchi, J	23	45	55	26	70
56	Ajello, E	1	44	67	23	89
56	McEntee, C	33	44	58	26	75
56	Fellela, D	43	44	50	0	56
59	Perez, R	13	42	50	33	40
59	Bennett, D	20	42	56	16	100
59	Noret, T	25	42	50	26	78
59	Felix, L	61	42	62	20	89
63	Fenton-Fung, B	15	40	40	33	43
63	Craven, R	32	40	62	22	86
65	Lombardi, J	8	39	62	21	71
66	Vella-Wilkinson, C	21	38	40	24	88
66	Chippendale, M	40	38	25	25	60
68	Corvese, A	55	37	42	23	64
69	Batista, J	12	36	62	19	57
70	Roberts, S	29	31	46	15	63
71	Price, J	39	25	0	33	40
71	Lima, S	49	25	25	0	40
73	Morgan, P	26	21	0	33	33
74	Costantino, G	44	17	0	33	20
75	Tobon, C	58	0	0	0	0

How We Rank

Score is the percentage of the representative's floor and committee votes that supported the RI ACLU position (committee votes were only counted if the representative was present for the vote).

A minimum of 3 votes were required per category to be given a score, otherwise the representative was given a score of N/A. However, their votes in the category still counted towards their overall score.

Scores above 80 are considered "Excellent", scores between 50 - 79 are "OK", and scores below 50 are considered "Poor". The maximum possible score is 100. The lowest possible score is 0.

Bills Scored

All bills are taken from the RI ACLU's legislative agenda, in which they publicly supported or opposed each piece of legislation. Bills in red were opposed by the ACLU (a "no" vote is scored positively).

Civil Rights
H7668, H7442, H7539, H7405, H7306, H7189, H7458, H7249, H7939A, H7680, H7484, H7137, H7706, H7396A, H7076, and H7593A.

Criminal Justice
H7774, H7704, H7739, H7355, H7937, H7711, H7938, H7191, H7141, H7084, H7192, H7572, H7508, H7567, H7353, H7691, H7461, H7715, H7896, H8009, H7246, H7760, H7343, H6624, H7678, H7411, H7188, H7807, H7187, H7308, H6630, and H7507.

Worker & Student Rights
H7511, H7509, H7720, H7904, H7905A, H7563A, H7162, H7806, H7459, H7519, H6649A, H7213A, H7546, H7485, and H8310.

2022 RI General Assembly Civil Liberties Rankings

Summary of Our Findings

2022 By the Numbers

How We Ranked Civil Liberties Voting Records

Senate Civil Liberties Rankings

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Excellent OK Poor

How We Rank

Bills Scored

House Civil Liberties Rankings

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Excellent OK Poor

How We Rank

Bills Scored

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