PROVIDENCE – The Rhode Island Department of Corrections has, at least temporarily, suspended its practice of opening and reading privileged mail to inmates, including their correspondence with their attorneys, and halted a policy requiring visitors to submit to having their photographs taken as the agency faces a legal challenge from the American Civil Liberties Union.
The ACLU of Rhode Island touted the policy changes on Wednesday, praising a decision by the department to revise the rules, which the ACLU alleged violated attorney-client privilege in a lawsuit it filed in Providence Superior Court in October.
In their complaint, ACLU attorneys said the Department of Corrections adopted those policies unilaterally. But those rules, they argued, are subject to the Administrative Procedures Act, which requires state agencies to set regulations through a public-involved rule-making process.
“The Administrative Procedures Act is not well-known, but it is a crucial component for government accountability,” Lynette Labinger, a cooperating attorney for the ACLU, said in a statement. “It provides a mechanism for citizens to acquire knowledge about the potentially far-reaching actions of state agencies and to have a formal opportunity to provide input on their policies and procedures.
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“This lawsuit has helped to vindicate the goals behind the law, and we look forward to joining with other interested parties in testifying on these rules at the appropriate time,” Labinger added.
Ahead of a hearing that was slated for Friday, the Department of Corrections halted the photograph protocol and changed the mail policy “in accordance with APA provisions that allow rules to temporarily take effect in emergency situations before initiating a public rule-making process,” the ACLU said in a statement.
According to the organization, the Department of Corrections said the emergency rules were needed to address “an urgent need to implement enhanced security measures to detect and address potential threats related to contraband, including but not limited to … chemically treated paper.”
The ACLU noted though “the emergency rules address the ACLU’s objections to the original policy by explicitly barring the opening or reading of privileged mail.”
“Instead, mail will remain unopened and be scanned through a machine that can purportedly detect the presence of drug-laced paper,” the ACLU said in its statement.
Notably, the temporary emergency rules will expire in 120 days and will be subject to a public hearing as the lawsuit continues.
A spokesman for the Department of Corrections did not immediately provide a comment on the matter on Thursday.
Christopher Gavin can be reached at christopher.gavin@globe.com.
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