Rhode Island

State lawmakers field bills to empower judges to rethink long sentences

Published

2 years ago

April 10, 2024

State lawmakers field bills to empower judges to rethink long sentences

PROVIDENCE – State lawmakers are once again weighing a proposal that would allow people serving long sentences to ask a judge for a “second look” at their punishment after 10 years.

Matching legislation has been submitted in the House and Senate that would give judges the latitude to reduce a person’s sentence after they’ve served 10 years, taking into consideration factors such as their age at the time of the crime, current age and rehabilitation efforts.

Sen. Meghan E. Kallman, D-Pawtucket, emphasized to the Senate Committee on the Judiciary hearing last week that the measure is not a get-out-of-jail-free card. It would be up to the individual to provide evidence of his or her rehabilitation and other strides.

“It creates the mechanism for the conversation … The judge is still running the show,” Kallman told the committee.

Kallman noted that the cost of incarcerating an individual is more than $84,000 annually, meaning that the state would spend $4.2 million to hold someone from age 20 to 40.

“I do not need to tell you how expensive that is,” Kallman said.

Rep. Julie A. Casimiro, D-North Kingstown, is the lead sponsor of the House version.

RI judge calls for the power to review long sentences

It is the second year state lawmakers have fielded the proposal after state Superior Court Judge Daniel A. Procaccini last year called on the General Assembly to empower judges to take a “second look” at cases involving offenders who committed crimes when they were young.

Procaccini’s call came in the case of Gahlil Oliveira, who at 23 was one of five men charged in the shooting death of John Carpenter on Dec. 18, 1995 in Providence. The murder of 26-year-old Carpenter, the son of then-state Rep. Marsha E. Carpenter, was believed to be in retaliation for the killing of a friend three days earlier.

Now 52, Oliveira sought to reduce his sentence of life in prison, plus a consecutive 40 years. But Procaccini concluded that he had no legal avenue to grant relief as court rules specify that a person must petition for a reduction within 120 days of their sentence being imposed.

400% jump in prison population, revictimization concerns

The legislation stresses that the number of people imprisoned in Rhode Island had increased more than 400% from 1980 to 2020, and that long-term incarceration disproportionately impacts poor communities and those of color, at great societal cost.

Evidence has shown, too, Kallman said, that older people are unlikely to reoffend and that extreme sentences do not deter crime.

Sen. Matthew LaMountain, D-Warwick, expressed discomfort that, if enacted, people could petition for a sentence-reduction hearing every two to five years, raising concerns about the impact on victims.

“I think we’re sending a troubling message to society … that you can take somebody’s life and be out on the street in 10 years,” LaMountain, a former state prosecutor, said.

Alexandra Bailey, of the Sentencing Project, spoke in favor of the measure, stating that the victims would have the opportunity to weigh in and that it would result in substantial savings for the state to reduce its elderly prison population.

A judge, she said, would not be obligated to hear a person’s petition.

The state Public Defender’s office expressed strong support, but voiced caution about whether it would have the manpower to handle people’s petitions given the high caseloads its lawyers are already facing.

The state affiliate of the American Civil Liberties Union also spoke in favor of the legislation.

Steven Parkhurst, who served 27 years in state prison after fatally shooting a man in 1992, at age 17, wrote in support of the bills, noting that he had grown up with many of the men the legislation would impact.

“They did the same hard work to become better people than the bad decisions we made as kids and young adults,” Parkhurst said.

“Everybody deserves a chance at redemption,” David Veliz, director of the Rhode Island Interfaith Coalition, said. “We cannot close the door entirely on hope.”

Pushback from state prosecutors

Though Attorney General Peter F. Neronha did not testify at the Senate hearing, he voiced objections last year.

“If enacted, this legislation would deprive victims and the criminal justice system of any modicum of closure, when again there are already adequate and appropriate avenues for relief available to incarcerated individuals,” he wrote.

The office, he said, would be required to divert significant resources to old, previously resolved cases, instead of the thousands of new cases charged each year.

Savings would be reinvested

Under the proposal, 25% of any savings in incarceration costs would be dedicated to fund prison-based and community-based programs designed to counter recidivism. Ten percent would be designated to the attorney general and public defender’s office to provide representation. An estimate of possible savings was not immediately available.

While the state judiciary did not take a position on the legislation, Edward J. Cooney Jr., the assistant administrator management & finance, said in a memo that it would require the creation of four full-time positions, including a judge. A new list of court-appointed lawyers would also need to be established, with total costs estimated at $1.6 million annually.

National movement afoot

Rhode Island’s second look legislation is in keeping with national trends toward extending possible relief to people serving lengthy sentences. The Model Penal Code, standardized laws used to assist legislatures, recommends that judges have the ability to review sentences after 15 years of imprisonment for adult crimes, and after 10 years for youth crimes. The American Bar Association also calls for “second look” resentencing hearings after people have been held for 10 years.

The bills are modeled on sample legislation by the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers.

A handful of states have enacted measures to allow sentences to be reconsidered, but typically after an individual has served 20 years. Many more states are now considering bills that would allow for sentencing reconsideration under varying mechanisms.

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Rhode Island

Rhode Island women’s basketball wins A-10 regular-season championship

Published

50 minutes ago

March 1, 2026

Press Room

Rhode Island women’s basketball wins A-10 regular-season championship

SOUTH KINGSTOWN – What was a peerless achievement in University of Rhode Island women’s basketball history now has some company just four short years later.

The Rams are Atlantic 10 regular-season champions again after a special Saturday afternoon in Kingston, a coronation more than a contest against visiting George Washington.

The Revolutionaries never had a chance after the hosts got off to a sharp start at the Ryan Center. URI left no doubt in front of its best crowd of the season, and a significant portion of that gathering stuck around long after the final whistle to see the nets cut down again.

It was all Rams in this 72-48 cruise, a result that matched what was a first in 2022-23 and handed URI a No. 1 seed in the upcoming conference tournament. George Mason dropped to the No. 2 spot despite posting the same 16-2 league record as the Rams, and that came thanks to a comprehensive 79-63 defeat in a Valentine’s Day matchup.

“There’s nothing more satisfying as a coach than to have the confetti fall and to cut down nets with this group of young women,” URI coach Tammi Reiss said. “I’ve never been prouder.”

URI scored on each of its first five offensive possessions and authored a masterpiece through the opening three quarters. It was only in the fourth when Reiss emptied her bench that George Washington showed any semblance of being able to keep pace. Palmire Mbu led three in double figures with 23 points, and Sophia Vital played yet another complete all-around game to help the Rams run roughshod.

“We were just extra motivated today,” Mbu said. “We wanted to do great for our crowd.

“Just trying my best. Trying to be aggressive and to give solutions on offense and defense. It felt good.”

URI owned a 21-point lead entering the final 10 minutes, thanks to 18 assists, just two turnovers and 63.4% shooting from the field. The Rams buried the offensive struggles they experienced in road losses to La Salle and Richmond with what had been a typical display of crisp execution. URI closed 26-for-35 from 2-point range, collected 48 points in the paint and racked up another 17 off Revolutionaries turnovers.

“I do believe the last four years we had talented teams – we had talented players,” URI guard Ines Debroise said. “But I think it’s also how we can put all the pieces of the puzzle together. This year that’s what we were going to do from day one.”

Mbu’s bucket off a Vanessa Harris steal gave the Rams a 25-10 lead and forced a George Washington timeout with 6:38 left in the second quarter. It seemed just a matter of time before this one was out of reach, and Brooklyn Gray followed a Debroise 3-pointer with a pair of layups to make it a 32-12 cushion. URI’s lead never dipped under 12 points again, and Mbu’s hook in the lane capped an 8-0 run that took it back to 58-38 with 1:00 left in the third.

Video of URI coach Tammi Reiss speaking postgame on Feb. 28

URI women’s basketball beats George Washington to win the Atlantic 10 regular-season championship

“They were sharing the ball in a championship game,” Reiss said. “It wasn’t 1-on-1. That’s what makes this team special.”

The Rams (25-4, 16-2 Atlantic 10) set a new program best for conference wins in a season and are now one shy from a new overall mark – they collected 26 while making a run to the WNIT Round of 16 in 2022-23. URI shared the league crown with rival Massachusetts that year before suffering a semifinal upset against Saint Louis and missing out on a third meeting with the Minutewomen.

“Their job is to show up and be us,” Reiss said. “Execute our game plan with discipline and ferocity for 40 minutes. Our job is to manage them – their health, their minutes.”

The Revolutionaries (15-16, 7-11 Atlantic 10) dropped to the No. 10 seed in the upcoming conference tournament and will play No. 7 Saint Louis in the second round on Thursday, March 5. The Rams will open Friday’s quarterfinals in an 11 a.m. tip on the USA Network against either No. 8 Loyola Chicago or No. 9 St. Bonaventure. No. 4 Davidson and No. 5 Saint Joseph’s are in URI’s half of the bracket, while the second-seeded Patriots and third-seeded Spiders could be on a semifinal collision course in the other half at Henrico Sports & Events Center.

“It’s going to be tough for everybody – probably three games in three days,” Mbu said. “We’ve got to push to the end and play like we’ve been doing.”

GEORGE WASHINGTON (48): Sara Lewis 2-10 2-2 6, Gabby Reynolds 7-13 2-2 17, Tanah Becker 1-2 1-1 3, Mia James 2-6 0-0 4, Kamari Sims 2-4 0-0 4, Emma Theodorsson 0-6 2-2 2, Jaeda Wilson 1-2 0-0 2, Filipa Calisto 2-2 0-0 4, Colleen Phiri 0-0 0-0 0, Caia Loving 2-2 0-0 4, Payton Dulin 1-1 0-2 2. Totals 20-48 7-9 48.

RHODE ISLAND (72): Palmire Mbu 9-14 3-4 23, Albina Syla 5-6 0-0 10, Brooklyn Gray 5-6 0-0 11, Sophia Vital 3-6 1-2 7, Ines Debroise 4-7 0-0 9, Vanessa Harris 3-7 0-0 7, Aimee Michel 2-2 0-0 4, Valentina Ojeda 0-2 0-0 0, Ta’Viyanna Habib 0-0 0-0 0, Eva Agba 0-1 1-2 1. Totals 31-51 5-8 72.

Halftime – RI, 40-25. 3-point FG – GW 1-8 (Reynolds 1-2, Becker 0-1, James 0-2, Sims 0-1, Theodorsson 0-2), RI 5-16 (Mbu 2-4, Gray 1-1, Vital 0-2, Debroise 1-4, Harris 1-2, Ojeda 0-2, Agba 0-1). Rebounds – GW 23 (Sims 5), RI 26 (Vital 6). Assists – GW 7 (Sims 2, Loving 2), RI 21 (Vital 7). Turnovers – GW 13 (Sims 4), RI 7 (Gray 2, Harris 2). Blocked shots – GW 2 (James 1, Loving 1), RI 3 (Mbu 2). Steals – GW 3 (Lewis 1, James 1, Sims 1), RI 6 (Vital 3). Attendance – 6,580.

bkoch@providencejournal.com

On X: @BillKoch25

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Rhode Island

Frostbitten lizard found in Rhode Island is healing

Published

13 hours ago

February 28, 2026

Press Room

Frostbitten lizard found in Rhode Island is healing

While shoveling his driveway during yet another winter storm, a man in Providence, Rhode Island found something rather unexpected—a very cold giant lizard. Fortunately, the animal rehabilitation experts at the New England Wildlife Center found that besides being very dehydrated and having frostbite on its tongue and toes, the female tegu named Frankie was doing okay.

Tegus are large South American reptiles, so how did Frankie end up in the middle of a snowstorm in New England? Tess Gannaway, a veterinarian at the wildlife center who treated Frankie, tells Popular Science that she was probably someone’s pet.

“Given their size they often roam folk’s homes like dogs or cats and there is a chance that in warmer months Frankie escaped and was surviving on her own outside until the weather got too cold for her to manage,” Gannaway explains. There’s also the more unfortunate possibility that the lizard was recently abandoned.

The black on the tip of Frankie’s tongue are the dead tissue as a result of the frostbite. Image: New England Wildlife Center Staff.

Either way, Frankie was likely unable to pull her tongue back into her mouth at the start of the storm, which caused the frostbite on both her tongue and her toes. The tongue frostbite is particularly notable because known cases of animals with mucus membrane related frostbite are exceedingly unusual. Because of the frostbite, Frankie no longer has the iconic reptilian V-shape in her tongue.

In fact, veterinary medicine as a whole didn’t have any published accounts of such an affliction. As such, Gannaway and her veterinary student turned to human medical literature to decide on Frankie’s best treatment option, and ultimately identified what they were looking for.

This “is really cool and an example of something in veterinary medicine and other fields we call one health, so the intersection between human and animal health,” Gannaway explained in a New England Wildlife Center video.

In the human report, a portion of a patient’s tongue had unintentionally frozen because of a medical intervention in the mouth. Doctors then removed the dead external tissue a number of times, healing the injury within three weeks.

Similarly, the team at the New England Wildlife Center aims to remove part of Frankie’s dead tongue tissue every two or three weeks. Hopefully, the tongue will heal on its own, but the good news is that tongues are rapid healers.

Gannaway says that the team is “cautiously optimistic” about Frankie’s future.

“She did great during her first debridement [the tissue removal] and has moved on from liquid to solid food. New England Wildlife Centers’ Veterinarians will keep checking her tongue every 2 weeks to see if she needs further sedation to remove more superficial tissue,” she adds.“Until then she is on pain medications and an antibiotic. Tegus can live normal lives with only part of their tongue so as long as we can get her tongue to stabilize she should be ready to live a warmer although slightly less adventurous life.”

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Rhode Island

Bodycam footage shows moments police respond to Pawtucket shooting

Published

1 day ago

February 28, 2026

Press Room

Bodycam footage shows moments police respond to Pawtucket shooting

Police bodycam footage shows the moments officers arrived to the scene of a deadly mass shooting in Pawtucket, Rhode Island.

The shooting on Feb. 16 at the Dennis M. Lynch Arena killed Rhonda Dorgan and Aidan Dorgan, the ex-wife and son of the shooter, who died by suicide.

If you or someone you know is in crisis, call or text 988 to reach the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline or chat live at 988lifeline.org. You can also visit SpeakingOfSuicide.com/resources for additional support.

Gerald Dorgan, Rhonda’s father, died from his injuries this week. His wife, Linda Dorgan, and family friend Thomas Geruso remain hospitalized.

Around five minutes after the first officer arrives, he beings helping paramedics with a man who identifies himself as Aidan. Twelve minutes in, Aidan Dorgan is transported to the hospital, where he would later die from his injuries.

If you or someone you know is experiencing domestic violence, contact the National Domestic Violence Hotline by calling 1-800-799-SAFE (7233), visiting www.thehotline.org or texting LOVEIS to 22522.

For the last 10 minutes of the footage, the officer then begins helping paramedics transport the other three gunshot victims.

The video ends with police prepping witness interviews.

The shooting rocked the Pawtucket community. Chris Librizzi, head coach of the Blackstone Valley Schools hockey team impacted by the shooting, said the players and coaching staff “are devastated over the events that took place at Lynch Arena on Monday and intimately affected one of our teammates.”

As authorities continue investigating the shooting in Pawtucket, three patients remain in critical condition.

“We will lean on each other and support one another, as we have always done as a team,” he added.

Pawtucket police said two handguns were found at the scene after the shooting, a Sig Sauer P226 and Glock. Other weapons have been seized at the suspect’s storage unit in Maine.

Investigators continue reviewing all video evidence from before, during and after the shooting, including surveillance footage from the Dennis M. Lynch Arena, police body-worn camera footage and other records — a high school sports livestream captured the shooting from a distance — police said.

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