PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- The Rhode Island Supreme Court has ordered that a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of Rhode Island's Truancy Court be dismissed.
The Rhode Island chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union filed the Superior Court suit in March 2010, claiming that Truancy Court judges and school systems that participate in the court unfairly punish students who miss school.
In its suit, which named Family Court Chief Judge Haiganush Bedrosian, five Truancy Court magistrates, and school superintendents for five communities as defendants, the ACLU said the court violated due-process clauses of the U.S. and Rhode Island constitutions by, among other things, meeting and issuing penalties behind closed doors, with no stenographers present.
Several school systems dropped out of the Truancy Court program after the suit was filed.
In a ruling issued Wednesday, the Supreme Court ruled that changes in Truancy Court practices had made the ACLU's lawsuit moot and ordered the Superior Court to dismiss the suit.