By Janine L. Weisman | Editor-in-Chief
Good Thursday morning!
The Department of Homeland Security still hadn’t taken down that post criticizing Rhode Island U.S. District Court Judge Melissa DuBose as of late Wednesday afternoon. But they do have an op-ed they want you to read. Reporter Christopher Shea mentioned it during his appearance on NBC 10’s “Community Connection.”
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High tide in Narragansett is at 6:35 p.m. Low tide is at 11:50 a.m. Sunset is at 7:56 p.m.
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The Special Legislative Commission to Study Housing Affordability meets at 1 p.m. to discuss fire and building codes with State Building Code Commissioner James Cambio, State Fire Marshal Timothy P. McLaughlin and builder Dave Caldwell of Caldwell & Johnson, Inc.
The Senate Committee on Judiciary meets at 3 p.m. to debate Sen. Matthew LaMountain’s resolution to ask the Rhode Island Supreme Court for an opinion on the constitutionality of a bill seeking to revive previously expired civil claims of sexual abuse against institutions such as the Roman Catholic Diocese of Providence. Here’s Christopher Shea’s report on the subject.
The House Finance Committee meets at approximately 4:45 p.m. to hear a variety of bills including one that would require the Department of Children, Youth and Families to establish and manage segregated savings account for children in foster care receiving Social Security disability, survivor, or other benefits, so they can use the money as they transition to adulthood. The state currently can use these benefits to subsidize their care.
Rhode Island Child Advocate Katelyn Medeiros, center, leaves U.S. District Court in Providence after a Tuesday, May 12, 2026, hearing on her office’s motion to quash a federal subpoena seeking Rhode Island Hospital records tied to transgender minors’ medical care. (Photo by Alexander Castro/Rhode Island Current)
By Alexander Castro
Rhode Island U.S. District Judge Mary McElroy on Wednesday night granted a motion by the state’s Office of Child Advocate to quash a subpoena from the Trump administration seeking medical records of transgender youth treated at Rhode Island Hospital. The judge also accused Department of Justice officials with misleading the Texas federal judge who granted their motion to force the hospital’s compliance by a Thursday deadline.
The exterior of U.S. District Court for the District of Rhode Island at 1 Exchange Terrace, Providence. (Photo by Alexander Castro/Rhode Island Current)
By Christopher Shea
James Percival, general counsel for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), wrote an op-ed for the conservative online magazine The Federalist Tuesday where he accused Rhode Island U.S. District Court Judge Melissa DuBose of “judicial misconduct involving a nakedly political public affairs campaign and efforts to intimidate federal employees so they would stop criticizing a co-equal branch of government.”
Sen. Jonathon Acosta, a Central Falls Democrat, shown during a Senate debate on June 6, 2024, has sponsored or co-sponsored legislation to reduce the maximum prison sentence for a felony by one day to protect noncitizens from deportation for the last six years. (Photo by Christopher Shea/Rhode Island Current)
By Christopher Shea
For the sixth consecutive year, the Rhode Island Senate on Tuesday passed legislation to reduce the maximum sentence for a misdemeanor crime by one day as a way to protect immigrants from being detained or removed from the country. The vote was 33-5 vote with all four of the chamber’s Republicans and Sen. Leonidas Raptakis, a Coventry Democrat, voting no. Eight states already cap some or all misdemeanor sentences at 364 days.
The Davis Global Center at the University of Nebraska Medical Center campus, which holds the National Quarantine Unit, is seen on May 11, 2026 in Omaha, Neb. (Photo by Dylan Widger/Getty Images)
By Jennifer Shutt | D.C. Bureau
Officials from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Wednesday the risk of a member of the general public contracting hantavirus remains low despite several passengers on a cruise ship becoming infected with the disease.
The U.S. Capitol is pictured on March 3, 2026. (Photo by Jennifer Shutt/States Newsroom)
By Jennifer Shutt | D.C. Bureau
The seventh effort to stop President Donald Trump’s military campaign in Iran until he obtains congressional approval failed Wednesday in the U.S. Senate. The vote marked the first test for Senate Republicans’ support for a War Powers Resolution after the expiration of the statute’s 60-day period granted to the president for military operations.
ICYMI
How the Strait of Hormuz affects the price of filling your gas tank | David Lightman, D.C. Bureau
Free prison, jail calls linked to lower costs, better outcomes in new report | Amanda Watford, Stateline
US Senate approves Warsh, Trump’s pick to replace Powell as Fed chair | Ashley Murray, D.C. Bureau
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