Solitary confinement
DOC agrees to limit solitary terms to 30 days
CRANSTON/PROVIDENCE — The Rhode Island Department of Corrections (DOC) agreed to new restrictions on its solitary confinement policies at the Adult Correctional Institutions as part of ongoing litigation in U.S. District Court Rhode Island. The move came as part of arbitration in the case of Richard Lee Paiva v. Rhode Island Department of Corrections, originally […]
Losers from the 2023 legislative session
Even $14 billion can’t buy happiness for everyone. The state’s fiscal 2024 spending plan and flurry of end-of-session legislation still left policymakers and reformers hanging on high-profile topics ranging from police reform and gun safety to the controversy-ridden Rhode Island Coastal Resources Management Council. Here are the biggest losers from the 2023 session. (There were […]
After three ACI suicides in as many months, activists call for end to solitary confinement
PROVIDENCE — Brian Rodenas had just one year left on his six-year sentence at the Adult Correctional Institutions (ACI) in Cranston when he was placed in an isolated cell in March. “Don’t worry, I’m fine. I’m still coming home next year,” he wrote to his mother Elizabeth DePina on March 15. “That is my promise […]