I was thinking about this after watching a Skepticon video. Rhode Island, for all the faults, the political idiocy, etc. has been out in front on a lot of issues.

I’m going to list a few:

1) The Arron Fricke case. This happened in 1980 – he wanted to bring his boyfriend to the prom at Cumberland High School. He filed suit in U.S. District Court and won.

2) This also happened in the 1980’s – RI does not allow DUI check points. We’re one of only ten states so far that have seen the light. Check points CLEARLY violate the 4th and possibly 5th amendments of the U.S. Constitution. And the Rhode Island constitution goes a little bit further in those respect. It’s why on a recent trip to North Carolina I got irritated that we got stopped at checkpoints not once but TWICE in one night. Grrr.

3) The Creche case – now this one was a punt but the upshot was you have to accommodate pretty much all of it. Which now means it’s a Season’s Greeting and a Holiday Tree in the State House.