Representative Potter introduces legislation to defend Rhode Islanders’ constitutional rights from federal officials
"This bill creates protection where it does not now exist, and is critical to keep our constitutional rights meaningful and alive for people in Rhode Island," said Attorney Miriam Weizenbaum.
From a press release:
State Representative Brandon Potter (Democrat, District 16, Cranston) has introduced legislation to protect the constitutional rights of Rhode Islanders from federal officials by creating a right to sue in state court.
“Under the Trump Administration, federal officials have invaded our states and blatantly disregarded the constitutional rights of the citizens whose communities they have occupied,” said Representative Potter. “These abuses are only growing more brazen. This federal government will not police itself, so individual Rhode Islanders need a defense in state courts to protect their constitutional rights, which is exactly what this legislation provides. For too long, federal officials have enjoyed broad immunity against lawsuits in federal court, a deficiency in our legal system that this lawless administration has made heartbreakingly clear. It’s time for states to step up to their residents’ defense, starting with Rhode Island.”
The Rhode Island Federal Constitution Defense Act (2026-H 7202) would create a state law cause of action against federal officials who, through actions in Rhode Island, violate a person’s rights under the United States Constitution.
Rhode Island currently has no state cause of action to sue a federal official in a Rhode Island state court for violating the federal Constitution, meaning that Rhode Islanders whose constitutional rights have been violated have to sue federal officials in federal courts, where judges have ruled that officials have broad immunity from these lawsuits.
“If our federal government violates our federal constitution, it must be held accountable,” said attorney Miriam Weizenbaum, board president of the Lawyers’ Committee for Rhode Island. “Otherwise, we live not in a democracy but in a lawless nation. This bill creates protection where it does not now exist, and is critical to keep our constitutional rights meaningful and alive for people in Rhode Island. We are proud to have played a role in drafting it. We stand ready to mobilize for this legislation with testimony and outreach to build public understanding and support for this critical protection.”
Representative Potter mentioned the actions of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials using excessive force against and arresting those peacefully protesting or documenting their actions, and the deployment of the military and the National Guard to act as local law enforcement, as examples of the types of actions that could lead Rhode Islanders to sue under this law.
“Rhode Islanders who are punished for exercising their right to protest or who are improperly detained without probable cause would have cases under this law,” said Representative Potter. “As we see daily across the nation, these are not hypothetical concerns. It is better to act now to put this protection in place before the abuses we’re seeing elsewhere become common in Rhode Island.”
The law would apply only to federal officials and would create no new liability for state and local officials.
The bill is supported by the Lawyers’ Committee for Rhode Island, a group of attorneys dedicated to using the law to protect people, groups, and institutions in Rhode Island from federal illegality, support efforts to maintain and advance democracy, and prevent authoritarianism
We have to try to stop the terror. Thank you, Rep. Potter! We are watching the purposeful destruction of democracy. Anything we can do to protect ourselves is worth doing.
When an administration is as lawless and criminal as the one we currently see in Washington things like this are necessary. Never before in American history have we felt such a need to protect the community from the federal government and the criminal ideologues running it.