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Large Boat-Slip Marina Unit Owners Prevail in Dispute Over Assessement of Dockominium Fees.

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RI Cops Arrest Man With .491 Blood Alcohol Level
Police Say Driver Had .491 Blood Alcohol Level, Believed Highest Ever Recorded In RI
Rhode Island Court Ignores Green Card Status
The Rhode Island Workers’ Compensation Court does not check the immigration status of complainants, and no employee — including undocumented workers — should be afraid to pursue a claim, the court’s chief judge said at a community forum.
Cranston Man Is Arrested In Fatal Shooting Of Neighbor
The police arrested a Daisy Court man they suspect of shooting and killing his next-door neighbor yesterday afternoon. Neighbors said the man who was shot had been hosting a birthday party for one of his children at the time.
Rhode Island House OKs Bill To Expunge/Destroy Criminal Records
Advocates for convicted criminals scored a victory on Smith Hill yesterday. Despite objections from the attorney general, the state police and the governor, the House voted 46 to 17 for a bill to quash and destroy the records of criminal cases in which the accused was given a deferred sentence, usually in exchange for sparing the state a trial by pleading no contest or guilty to a crime.
Rhode Island State Police Won’t Conduct Dragnets On Immigrant Drivers
The Rhode Island State Police will not conduct dragnets to ask drivers about their immigration status, nor will they conduct “any out-of-the-ordinary raids or operations” in search of illegal immigrants as a result of Governor Carcieri’s recent executive order, according to a list of “frequently asked questions” the governor posted on his Web site yesterday.
Questions Halt Rhode Island House’s Vote On Expungment Bill
After a spirited debate in which lawmakers accused one another of trying to rewrite history by running a giant “eraser” through the state’s criminal record books, House leaders had second thoughts yesterday about putting a far-reaching “quash-and-destroy” bill to an immediate vote.
Court Rules Rhode Island Need Not Hear Cases On Asbestos
In a matter closely followed by national business groups, the state Supreme Court is ordering the dismissal of 39 asbestos cases that Canadian residents had filed in Rhode Island. With the ruling, the Supreme Court said Rhode Island is joining 46 other states and the federal government in recognizing a doctrine that allows courts to decline to handle cases if — in the interest of “convenience, efficiency and justice” — they conclude the cases should proceed elsewhere.
House Mulls Change In Criminal Sentencing Rules
Direct Action for Rights and Equality, a Providence civil-rights group, says the more troublesome part of mandatory minimums is that they prevent judges from using discretion in sentencing, effectively tying their hands. The court is not allowed to weigh personal circumstances, such as being a first-time offender.
Breathalyzer Challenge
A state prosecutor and a former House speaker last week debated whether new, harsher penalties apply to those who refuse to take Breathalyzer tests — or whether the penalties enacted in 2006 were wiped out when the governor signed a budget bill containing the law’s old language. The arguments, which took place before the Rhode Island Supreme Court, prompted one justice to say, “The public should not know how sausages or laws are made.”
Police On Alert For Young Drinkers
With prom season in full swing and high school commencements just around the corner, the police are giving notice that they are on high alert for underage drinking and are taking extra steps this year.
RI Senate Panel Considers E-Verify Bill
The bill would require any employer with three or more workers to use a pilot E-Verify program to determine whether the new hire is legally authorized to work in this country. The E-Verify program uses an online government database. An identical measure passed in the House by a 53-to-17 vote last week.
Fatal Attraction: How Kids, Cars and Drinking Are Tearing Barrington Apart
Two police investigations have been opened in the aftermath of an article in the current issue of Rhode Island Monthly magazine that looks at teen drinking issues.
Teen Tells Board Of Licenses Details Of Buying Beer That Resulted In A Conviction For DUI Death Resulting
Some of the beer was drunk that night by Michael J. Silveira, then 16, before Silveira wrecked his car on New Meadow Road in Barrington and killed one of his passengers, Jonathan C. Converse, 16, who had been Silveira’s best friend.
Silveira pleaded no contest to a charge of driving under the influence of alcohol, death resulting, and he was sentenced to serve two years at the Rhode Island Training School.
Expect Stalemate On Immigration Reform To Continue
A lot of Americans can't get their head around the concept of illegal immigrants demanding civil rights from a country whose laws they've broken. After all, these are people who have -- by virtue of not following the rules to get here, live here, work here -- chosen to live outside our system. And now they want to come inside, but only to ask for this and demand that, without admitting they did wrong or acknowledging their responsibility to make it right.
Woman Facing Drunk-Driving Charges Fails Drug Test
A Superior Court judge yesterday ordered the woman the police say was driving drunk last year when she hit a teenager changing a tire to surrender her license after her urine tested positive for amphetamines. In addition, Judge Stephen P. Nugent demanded Heidi Harrall submit to a urine screening immediately after learning she had missed two tests in the last few weeks.
Remarks On Immigrants Raise Concerns
A nonprofit group whose board members include First Lady Sue Carcieri asserts that nearly 45 percent of all immigrants in Rhode Island — legal and illegal — lack high school diplomas and “this low-skilled cohort of immigrants to Rhode Island costs state taxpayers about $212 million per year.”
Grand Jury Indicts Drunk Driver In Death Crash
A 28-year-old local woman has been indicted on multiple felony charges after police said the car accident she caused last year in Middletown led to the death of a Florida woman. Rebecca Faulkner of 26 Stockton Drive, Middletown, was indicted Wednesday by a statewide grand jury on charges of leaving the scene of an accident, death resulting; drunken driving, death resulting; leaving the scene of an accident, personal injury resulting; and reckless driving, personal injury resulting charges.
R.I. Employers Face Possible Mandate On E-Verify
Human-resources advocates support creating a federal electronic employment-verification system to curtail illegal immigration, so long as it’s accurate and reliable. But the human-resource association has a big problem with state legislation that would require employers to check the employment eligibility of newly hired workers through a national Web-based system called E-Verify.
Immigration Rally Has Fewer Voices
On a cool, sunny spring day, hundreds of supporters of immigrant rights turned out at a May Day rally yesterday to decry Governor Carcieri’s executive order that requires state police to check the status of people they suspect of being here illegally and report them to federal immigration authorities. The estimated 300 people in attendance were but a fraction of the participation seen at immigration-rights rallies in years past.
Sandra Bullock Hit in A Massachusetts Drunk Driving Accident
The Lake House star, Sandra Bullock, was involved in a car accident in Gloucester, Massachusetts late Friday night.
The Boston Herald reports that Bullock was with her husband Jesse James and Mark Hussey, who was driving, when a woman in a station wagon jumped lanes and hit the rented SUV Bullock was in.
House OKs Bill Requiring Employers To Verify Citizenship of New Hires
The immigration question that has blanketed Rhode Island politics in recent weeks saw its first real debate last night, with House lawmakers approving a bill requiring private employers to electronically verify the citizenship of new hires.
For close to two hours, representatives sparred on the House floor, with some calling the proposal an important first step toward solving the state’s illegal immigration problem and others convinced it will ratchet up discrimination and hurt those here legally. The measure ultimately passed in a 53-to-17 vote and is now headed to the Senate.
Rhode Island House Panel OKs Bill That Would Erase Many R.I. Criminal Records
Over the strong objections of the attorney general and state police, a key House committee has approved a bill to forever remove thousands of crimes from the public record so convicted criminals can tell state licensing boards and prospective employers — with impunity — that they have never been convicted of a crime.
Clinton Aide Accepts Deal In DWI Case Fined $900, Had License Revoked For 10 Months
Sen. Hillary Clinton campaign adviser Sidney Blumenthal slipped into Nashua District Court to plead guilty and be sentenced last month, three weeks earlier than scheduled. Blumenthal pleaded guilty March 28 to a standard, misdemeanor DWI charge. He was fined $900, and his driver's license revoked for 10 months. Blumenthal can seek to get his license restored after 120 days, however, if he completes and alcohol education program in Washington, D.C., court records show.
$4.1 Million Awarded In Sex Assault
A federal jury deliberated 30 minutes Thursday, then awarded a woman more than $4.1 million in punitive damages after finding that her former employer acted with "malice, oppression or with reckless indifference" in failing to protect her from aggravated sexual assault by a state worker.
Immigration Protesters Had Gig Down Cold
Political Scene was curious about why protesters this month stormed the governor’s first-floor policy office instead of the governor’s actual office, on the second floor, during a rally to oppose Carcieri’s executive order on immigration.
Did they know the difference? Did they accidentally open the wrong door?
Political Scene has learned that the protesters were a lot more organized than some people gave them credit for.
Immigration Lawyer Frank Flanagan Comments to the Providence Journal on H-2B Seasonal Workers
Employers in Newport and Block Island are scrambling from Florida to the Adult Correctional Institutions in Cranston, hoping to find seasonal workers before the annual influx of tourists arrives this summer. “People are scared. They are desperate to find workers,” said Frank Flanagan, a Newport attorney who specializes in immigration. One solution is to search for H-2B workers already in the country and see if they are willing to extend their visas. Flanagan said such workers can stay as long as three years if they can find sponsoring employers. So some area hotels are looking south, where the winter tourist season is coming to an end, to find workers willing to stay.
Rhode Island Bill Would Require Verification Of New Hires’ Immigration Status
The plan would mandate all Rhode Island employers with three or more workers to confirm through a Web-based government database whether any new employee is authorized to work in the United States.
Immigrants Aren't Cause of All Woes
No topic in recent memory has polarized Rhode Islanders as much as the debate over illegal immigration.
Of course, it doesn’t help when state officials ramp up the rhetoric to levels reminiscent of the Red Scare.
Rhode Island House Judiciary Committee To Consider Touger DUI Laws
An Act Relating to Motor and Other Vehicles, Motor Vehicles Offenses, would increase the penalties for convictions for driving under the influence, resulting in death, and driving under the influence, resulting in serious bodily injury.
School Found Negligent In Booze Party Crash
A jury ruled the Archdiocese of Miami liable for $14 million in damages for the car wreck that left a high schooler dead and another paralyzed and brain damaged after a booze-laden year-end party at the home of two students in 2001.
Former Congressional candidate arrested on drunk driving charge
MIDDLETOWN, R.I. --Former Congressional candidate Dave Rogers was arrested in Middletown on a drunken driving charge.
Woman Pleads Not Guilty To DUI Charges
SOUTH KINGSTOWN, R.I. - A woman pleaded not guilty Monday to drunken driving charges after being accused of hitting a teenager standing by the side of the road.
Recent Study Proves Tort Reform Doesn't Work
A new study on tort reform by a business-backed institute proves tort reform does not work
The Dog Did It: Woman Gets $300K Deal
A police dog put a pickup truck into gear, injuring a woman on her way to the mailbox in an incident that has ended with a $300,000 settlement.
Rhode Island Cracks Down On Illegal Immigrants
Governor Carcieri signed a six-point executive order he said will enable “a vast array of state government agencies” to address illegal immigration in Rhode Island. He said he did so because the federal government has dropped the ball on immigration reform and left state taxpayers to pick up what he said are the considerable costs of illegal immigration.
Teen Impaired Driver Sentenced To Training School
A Barrington teenager was sentenced yesterday to six months in the state Training School for driving while impaired, fleeing authorities at Colt State Park and then slamming into a wall, pinning a pedestrian beneath his car. The Dec. 29 crash marked the latest in a string of incidents involving Barrington teenagers, alcohol and either injury or death.
Landlords Can Check Potential Renters' Credit
Is it legal for a landlord to procure a credit check? And what can you do if you refuse and the landlord denies your application?
Attorney Peter Brent Regan convinces the Rhode Island Supreme Court and saves his client “hundreds of thousands of dollars”
The Supreme Court ruled in favor of the large-slip holders because the provisions of the Rhode Island Condominium Act bind the marina association. The justices said that under the act, the original method of allocating assessment fees could not be changed without the agreement of 100 percent of the association members.
The ICE age is here
Rhode Islanders for Immigration law Enforcement," he had a right to call the Immigration Service, known as ICE, or make a citizens arrest whenever he came across someone whom he felt was breaking the law by residing here illegally
Large Boat-Slip Marina Unit Owners Prevail in Dispute Over Assessement of Dockominium Fees.
Attorney Peter Brent Regan Wins On Summary Judgment & Is Awarded Over $26,000 in Attorney's Fees For His Clients
Lawmaker Promises To Protect Immigrants
As another legislative session nears, so too does the promise of another debate over immigration.
Rhode Island Legislators Try Again For Curbs On Illegals
Two legislators whose effort to curb illegal immigration died during the last General Assembly session intend to introduce a revamped version of their bill.
Glocester Man Hit By Drunk Driver
The police arrested and charged a Burrillville woman for driving under the influence and hitting a man shoveling snow with her car and fleeing the scene.
Teenage drunk driver will serve two years at training school
The 16-year-old driver of the car that was involved in the Nov. 5 fatal crash on New Meadow Road in Barrington pleaded no contest to driving under the influence of alcohol-death resulting and was sentenced to serve two years at the state juvenile training school.
$18.3 million wrongful death automobile accident settlement
A settlement was reached awarding $18.3 million to the family of a teen killed in an accident. Seventeen-year-old Tim Orefice was killed when his car was hit by a Guilford Texaco tow truck. Secondino, Guilford Texaco, and the company which leased the truck to Guilford Texaco, were all sued in the case.
Hospital fined in wrong-site surgery
A doctor at Rhode Island Hospital started to operate on the wrong side of a patient’s head Friday, barely four months after a wrong-site surgery at the same hospital.
Immigration Attorney Francis Flanagan Comments On The Department Of Homeland Security "No Match" Rule
Employers have received a reprieve from the federal “no match” rule that would have punished businesses for hiring illegal workers, but the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) served notice last week that it’s refusing to give up on the controversial measure.
No Charges Filed in Bus Accident
The Rhode Island Public Transit Authority bus driver who hit and killed a pedestrian in Pawtucket last week will not be facing charges. The driver had barred 57 year old Domenick Paola from the bus for being drunk. After leaving the bus, Paola fell down, got up, and walked in front of the moving bus. Paola was the second pedestrian killed by a RIPTA bus in the last eight months.
Rhode Island to Step up Drunk Driving Enforcement for the Holidays
Rhode Island, Connecticut, and Massachusetts are banding together this holiday season to keep drunk drivers off the road. Operation Stop Another Needless Tragic Accident, or SANTA, is a team effort between the New England seats who will be petitioning troopers at various points throughout the highways.
Judge Sends 3 Teens to Drug & Alcohol Program Following Fatal Crash
Rhode Island judge, Jeremiah S. Jeremiah, sent three teenagers to a 90 day drug and alcohol program following accusations that the teens consumed alcohol before a fatal car crash. If the teens complete the program, which invovles trips to hospital emergency rooms to see alcohol related crash victims, all charges will be dropped.
Drunk Driver Sentenced to 10 Years in Fatal Crash
The 29 year old Coventry woman who killed a 17 year old Warwick boy while driving under the influence of alcohol and marijuana last December was sentenced to 10 years in prison. Though he said he doubted that Dawn Simas was a threat to be a repeat offender, Judge Darigan, told Simas that she needed to go to prison for a significant period of time.

RI Cops Arrest Man With .491 Blood Alcohol Level

State Police arrested a man early Tuesday whose blood alcohol level allegedly was .491, more than six times the legal limit, which they believe is the highest ever recorded in Rhode Island for someone who wasn't dead.
The man, 34, was arrested after he drove into a highway message board on Interstate 95 in Providence, Maj. Steven O'Donnell said.

Rhode Island Court Ignores Green Card Status

The Rhode Island Workers’ Compensation Court does not check the immigration status of complainants, and no employee — including undocumented workers — should be afraid to pursue a claim, the court’s chief judge said at a community forum.

Cranston Man Is Arrested In Fatal Shooting Of Neighbor

The police arrested a Daisy Court man they suspect of shooting and killing his next-door neighbor yesterday afternoon. Neighbors said the man who was shot had been hosting a birthday party for one of his children at the time.

Rhode Island House OKs Bill To Expunge/Destroy Criminal Records

Advocates for convicted criminals scored a victory on Smith Hill yesterday. Despite objections from the attorney general, the state police and the governor, the House voted 46 to 17 for a bill to quash and destroy the records of criminal cases in which the accused was given a deferred sentence, usually in exchange for sparing the state a trial by pleading no contest or guilty to a crime.

Rhode Island State Police Won’t Conduct Dragnets On Immigrant Drivers

The Rhode Island State Police will not conduct dragnets to ask drivers about their immigration status, nor will they conduct “any out-of-the-ordinary raids or operations” in search of illegal immigrants as a result of Governor Carcieri’s recent executive order, according to a list of “frequently asked questions” the governor posted on his Web site yesterday.

Questions Halt Rhode Island House’s Vote On Expungment Bill

After a spirited debate in which lawmakers accused one another of trying to rewrite history by running a giant “eraser” through the state’s criminal record books, House leaders had second thoughts yesterday about putting a far-reaching “quash-and-destroy” bill to an immediate vote.

Court Rules Rhode Island Need Not Hear Cases On Asbestos

In a matter closely followed by national business groups, the state Supreme Court is ordering the dismissal of 39 asbestos cases that Canadian residents had filed in Rhode Island. With the ruling, the Supreme Court said Rhode Island is joining 46 other states and the federal government in recognizing a doctrine that allows courts to decline to handle cases if — in the interest of “convenience, efficiency and justice” — they conclude the cases should proceed elsewhere.

House Mulls Change In Criminal Sentencing Rules

Direct Action for Rights and Equality, a Providence civil-rights group, says the more troublesome part of mandatory minimums is that they prevent judges from using discretion in sentencing, effectively tying their hands. The court is not allowed to weigh personal circumstances, such as being a first-time offender.

Breathalyzer Challenge

A state prosecutor and a former House speaker last week debated whether new, harsher penalties apply to those who refuse to take Breathalyzer tests — or whether the penalties enacted in 2006 were wiped out when the governor signed a budget bill containing the law’s old language. The arguments, which took place before the Rhode Island Supreme Court, prompted one justice to say, “The public should not know how sausages or laws are made.”

Police On Alert For Young Drinkers

With prom season in full swing and high school commencements just around the corner, the police are giving notice that they are on high alert for underage drinking and are taking extra steps this year.

RI Senate Panel Considers E-Verify Bill

The bill would require any employer with three or more workers to use a pilot E-Verify program to determine whether the new hire is legally authorized to work in this country. The E-Verify program uses an online government database. An identical measure passed in the House by a 53-to-17 vote last week.

Fatal Attraction: How Kids, Cars and Drinking Are Tearing Barrington Apart

Two police investigations have been opened in the aftermath of an article in the current issue of Rhode Island Monthly magazine that looks at teen drinking issues.

Teen Tells Board Of Licenses Details Of Buying Beer That Resulted In A Conviction For DUI Death Resulting

Some of the beer was drunk that night by Michael J. Silveira, then 16, before Silveira wrecked his car on New Meadow Road in Barrington and killed one of his passengers, Jonathan C. Converse, 16, who had been Silveira’s best friend. Silveira pleaded no contest to a charge of driving under the influence of alcohol, death resulting, and he was sentenced to serve two years at the Rhode Island Training School.

Expect Stalemate On Immigration Reform To Continue

A lot of Americans can't get their head around the concept of illegal immigrants demanding civil rights from a country whose laws they've broken. After all, these are people who have -- by virtue of not following the rules to get here, live here, work here -- chosen to live outside our system. And now they want to come inside, but only to ask for this and demand that, without admitting they did wrong or acknowledging their responsibility to make it right.

Woman Facing Drunk-Driving Charges Fails Drug Test

A Superior Court judge yesterday ordered the woman the police say was driving drunk last year when she hit a teenager changing a tire to surrender her license after her urine tested positive for amphetamines. In addition, Judge Stephen P. Nugent demanded Heidi Harrall submit to a urine screening immediately after learning she had missed two tests in the last few weeks.

Remarks On Immigrants Raise Concerns

A nonprofit group whose board members include First Lady Sue Carcieri asserts that nearly 45 percent of all immigrants in Rhode Island — legal and illegal — lack high school diplomas and “this low-skilled cohort of immigrants to Rhode Island costs state taxpayers about $212 million per year.”

Grand Jury Indicts Drunk Driver In Death Crash

A 28-year-old local woman has been indicted on multiple felony charges after police said the car accident she caused last year in Middletown led to the death of a Florida woman. Rebecca Faulkner of 26 Stockton Drive, Middletown, was indicted Wednesday by a statewide grand jury on charges of leaving the scene of an accident, death resulting; drunken driving, death resulting; leaving the scene of an accident, personal injury resulting; and reckless driving, personal injury resulting charges.

R.I. Employers Face Possible Mandate On E-Verify

Human-resources advocates support creating a federal electronic employment-verification system to curtail illegal immigration, so long as it’s accurate and reliable. But the human-resource association has a big problem with state legislation that would require employers to check the employment eligibility of newly hired workers through a national Web-based system called E-Verify.

Immigration Rally Has Fewer Voices

On a cool, sunny spring day, hundreds of supporters of immigrant rights turned out at a May Day rally yesterday to decry Governor Carcieri’s executive order that requires state police to check the status of people they suspect of being here illegally and report them to federal immigration authorities. The estimated 300 people in attendance were but a fraction of the participation seen at immigration-rights rallies in years past.

Sandra Bullock Hit in A Massachusetts Drunk Driving Accident

The Lake House star, Sandra Bullock, was involved in a car accident in Gloucester, Massachusetts late Friday night. The Boston Herald reports that Bullock was with her husband Jesse James and Mark Hussey, who was driving, when a woman in a station wagon jumped lanes and hit the rented SUV Bullock was in.

House OKs Bill Requiring Employers To Verify Citizenship of New Hires

The immigration question that has blanketed Rhode Island politics in recent weeks saw its first real debate last night, with House lawmakers approving a bill requiring private employers to electronically verify the citizenship of new hires. For close to two hours, representatives sparred on the House floor, with some calling the proposal an important first step toward solving the state’s illegal immigration problem and others convinced it will ratchet up discrimination and hurt those here legally. The measure ultimately passed in a 53-to-17 vote and is now headed to the Senate.

Rhode Island House Panel OKs Bill That Would Erase Many R.I. Criminal Records

Over the strong objections of the attorney general and state police, a key House committee has approved a bill to forever remove thousands of crimes from the public record so convicted criminals can tell state licensing boards and prospective employers — with impunity — that they have never been convicted of a crime.

Clinton Aide Accepts Deal In DWI Case Fined $900, Had License Revoked For 10 Months

Sen. Hillary Clinton campaign adviser Sidney Blumenthal slipped into Nashua District Court to plead guilty and be sentenced last month, three weeks earlier than scheduled. Blumenthal pleaded guilty March 28 to a standard, misdemeanor DWI charge. He was fined $900, and his driver's license revoked for 10 months. Blumenthal can seek to get his license restored after 120 days, however, if he completes and alcohol education program in Washington, D.C., court records show.

$4.1 Million Awarded In Sex Assault

A federal jury deliberated 30 minutes Thursday, then awarded a woman more than $4.1 million in punitive damages after finding that her former employer acted with "malice, oppression or with reckless indifference" in failing to protect her from aggravated sexual assault by a state worker.

Immigration Protesters Had Gig Down Cold

Political Scene was curious about why protesters this month stormed the governor’s first-floor policy office instead of the governor’s actual office, on the second floor, during a rally to oppose Carcieri’s executive order on immigration. Did they know the difference? Did they accidentally open the wrong door? Political Scene has learned that the protesters were a lot more organized than some people gave them credit for.

Immigration Lawyer Frank Flanagan Comments to the Providence Journal on H-2B Seasonal Workers

Employers in Newport and Block Island are scrambling from Florida to the Adult Correctional Institutions in Cranston, hoping to find seasonal workers before the annual influx of tourists arrives this summer. “People are scared. They are desperate to find workers,” said Frank Flanagan, a Newport attorney who specializes in immigration. One solution is to search for H-2B workers already in the country and see if they are willing to extend their visas. Flanagan said such workers can stay as long as three years if they can find sponsoring employers. So some area hotels are looking south, where the winter tourist season is coming to an end, to find workers willing to stay.

Rhode Island Bill Would Require Verification Of New Hires’ Immigration Status

The plan would mandate all Rhode Island employers with three or more workers to confirm through a Web-based government database whether any new employee is authorized to work in the United States. Businesses and organizations that refuse to participate in the program would face fines of up to $5,000 every 30 days depending on size.

Immigrants Aren't Cause of All Woes

No topic in recent memory has polarized Rhode Islanders as much as the debate over illegal immigration. Of course, it doesn’t help when state officials ramp up the rhetoric to levels reminiscent of the Red Scare.

Rhode Island House Judiciary Committee To Consider Touger DUI Laws

An Act Relating to Motor and Other Vehicles, Motor Vehicles Offenses, would increase the penalties for convictions for driving under the influence, resulting in death, and driving under the influence, resulting in serious bodily injury. Those found guilty of the offense would be subject to up to two years imprisonment and license suspension of up to one year.

School Found Negligent In Booze Party Crash

A jury ruled the Archdiocese of Miami liable for $14 million in damages for the car wreck that left a high schooler dead and another paralyzed and brain damaged after a booze-laden year-end party at the home of two students in 2001.

Former Congressional candidate arrested on drunk driving charge

Former Rhode Island Congressional candidate Dave Rogers was arrested in Middletown on a drunken driving charge.The Republican Rogers is a former aide to Governor Don Carcieri and made unsuccessful bids in 2002 and 2004 for the Congressional seat held by Democratic Rep. Patrick Kennedy.

Woman Pleads Not Guilty To DUI Charges

A South Kingstown, Rhode Island woman pleaded not guilty Monday to drunken driving charges after being accused of hitting a teenager standing by the side of the road.
Police said 45-year-old Heidi Harrall was driving drunk and speeding when she lost control of her car along Route 1 in South Kingstown last June and hit 17-year-old Sylvia Bogusz. Bogusz was seriously injured. Harrall was released on bail and ordered to undergo substance abuse treatment and counseling.

Recent Study Proves Tort Reform Doesn't Work

A new study on tort reform by a business-backed institute "proves tort reform does not work," according to the association for the nation's trial lawyers.

American Association for Justice CEO Jon Haber, representing trial lawyers, said the state rankings recently released by Pacific Research Institute (PRI) show there is no correlation between tort reform and costs.

The Dog Did It: Woman Gets $300K Deal

A police dog put a pickup truck into gear, injuring a woman on her way to the mailbox in an incident that has ended with a $300,000 settlement. Stone, who had a broken pelvis, had asked for $580,000 but settled with the city's insurer for $300,000.

Rhode Island Cracks Down On Illegal Immigrants

Governor Carcieri signed a six-point executive order he said will enable “a vast array of state government agencies” to address illegal immigration in Rhode Island. He said he did so because the federal government has dropped the ball on immigration reform and left state taxpayers to pick up what he said are the considerable costs of illegal immigration.

The executive order includes six provisions:

•The Department of Administration will register and use a federal government program — E-Verify — to electronically verify that all executive branch employees are legally eligible to work in the United States.

•The department will require all companies doing business with the state to also use the E-Verify program to ensure their employees are legally authorized to work in the country.

•State agencies have the authority to notify persons whose identity was stolen or used improperly to receive benefits such as child care, health care or a driver’s license.

•Rhode Island State Police will establish a Memorandum of Agreement with the federal Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement to receive training to assist ICE personnel in arresting illegal immigrants. The new partnership will allow state police with ICE training to access federal databases, process immigration prisoners and transport them to the federal Wyatt Detention Center.

•The state Department of Corrections will similarly develop a memorandum of agreement with ICE. In part, it will allow ACI personnel to investigate immigration status of prisoners and prepare necessary documentation for those found to be in the country illegally.

•The Parole Board and corrections department “will work cooperatively with ICE personnel” to provide for parole and deportation of criminal aliens.

Teen Impaired Driver Sentenced To Training School

A Barrington teenager was sentenced yesterday to six months in the state Training School for driving while impaired, fleeing authorities at Colt State Park and then slamming into a wall, pinning a pedestrian beneath his car.

The Dec. 29 crash marked the latest in a string of incidents involving Barrington teenagers, alcohol and either injury or death.

Landlords Can Check Potential Renters' Credit

If a prospective tenant refuses to authorize the landlord to obtain a credit report, the landlord has the right to refuse to rent.

Attorney Peter Brent Regan convinces the Rhode Island Supreme Court and saves his client “hundreds of thousands of dollars”

The Supreme Court ruled in favor of the large-slip holders because the provisions of the Rhode Island Condominium Act bind the marina association. The justices said that under the act, the original method of allocating assessment fees could not be changed without the agreement of 100 percent of the association members.

The ICE age is here

Rhode Islanders for Immigration law Enforcement," he had a right to call the Immigration Service, known as ICE, or make a citizens arrest whenever he came across someone whom he felt was breaking the law by residing here illegally

Large Boat-Slip Marina Unit Owners Prevail in Dispute Over Assessement of Dockominium Fees.

The defendants appealed from the grant of summary judgment in favor of the plaintiffs, asserting that the Superior Court’s ruling as to the illegality of one of the provisions of the condominium declaration at issue was erroneous. The defendants also contended that the hearing justice abused his discretion when he granted the plaintiffs’ motion for attorneys’ fees. The Supreme Court first determined that the provision of the condominium declaration at issue violated the plain language of the Rhode Island Condominium Act, G.L. 1956 chapter 36.1 of title 24. The Court stated that the clear language of the Condominium Act permits a differential method of assessing the expenses of a condominium association—but only to the extent required by a particular condominium declaration. The Court determined that the condominium declaration of Newport On-Shore Marina, Inc. does not require a footage-based assessment of the costs of operating the marina, but instead, in violation of the Condominium Act, vests discretion in the board of directors in that regard.

The Court furthermore concluded that the Condominium Act authorized the hearing justice to award attorneys’ fees and that the hearing justice did not abuse his discretion in awarding attorneys’ fees to the plaintiffs in this case. For these reasons, the Supreme Court denied the appeal and affirmed the judgment of the Superior Court.

Lawmaker Promises To Protect Immigrants

As another legislative session nears, so too does the promise of another debate over immigration.

Rhode Island Legislators Try Again For Curbs On Illegals

The Rhode Island Taxpayer and Citizens Protection Act would tighten state laws governing driver's licenses and criminalize efforts by businesses or individuals to harbor illegal immigrant workers.

Glocester Man Hit By Drunk Driver

The police arrested and charged a Burrillville woman for driving under the influence and hitting a man shoveling snow with her car and fleeing the scene.

Teenage drunk driver will serve two years at training school

$18.3 million wrongful death automobile accident settlement

Hospital fined in wrong-site surgery

Immigration Attorney Francis Flanagan Comments On The Department Of Homeland Security "No Match" Rule

Employers have received a reprieve from the federal “no match” rule that would have punished businesses for hiring illegal workers, but the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) served notice last week that it’s refusing to give up on the controversial measure.

No Charges Filed in Bus Accident

Rhode Island to Step up Drunk Driving Enforcement for the Holidays

Judge Sends 3 Teens to Drug & Alcohol Program Following Fatal Crash

Rhode Island judge, Jeremiah S. Jeremiah, sent three teenagers to a 90 day drug and alcohol program following accusations that the teens consumed alcohol before a fatal car crash. If the teens complete the program, which invovles trips to hospital emergency rooms to see alcohol related crash victims, all charges will be dropped.

Drunk Driver Sentenced to 10 Years in Fatal Crash

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