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And Now Rhode Island

Allie Bohm,
Policy Counsel,
NYCLU
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June 14, 2012

Rhode Island’s state legislature adjourned on Tuesday – or, according to their floor calendars, sometime after 2 am on Wednesday morning. (Ouch!) As in most state legislatures, the last day of session saw a flurry of activity, a rush to pass important bills that legislators could not allow to die with the session. Among those must-pass bills in the Rhode Island House of Representatives? A resolution calling on Congress to repeal Sections 1021 and 1022 of the Fiscal Year 2012 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). Those are the dangerous detention provisions authorizing the president — and all future presidents — to order the military to pick up and indefinitely imprison people captured anywhere in the world, far from any battlefield. The members of the Rhode Island House, like so many of you, found those provisions so abhorrent that they could not go home for the summer/campaign season until they had officially expressed their disapproval to Congress.

Will your state legislature or city council be next? You can make that happen. Check out our model legislation and activist toolkit for legislative language, talking points, and tips to help you get started. The Senate could pick up and vote on this year’s NDAA as soon as next month, and they need to hear from your elected officials – and, just as importantly, from you – now. You can tweet at them to #FixNDAA, and keep your eyes on our Action Center and blog for other ways you can get involved.

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