ACLU targets orange sticker ordinance

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WPRI) - Last year, the Rhode Island American Civil Liberties Union sued over Narragansett's "orange sticker" ordinance, now it is asking a federal judge to toss out the rule it says unfairly "stigmatizes" certain residents.

The ordinance, adopted last year, allows police to charge tenants and landlords for having unruly gatherings. It also allows police to place orange stickers on houses that have violated the party ordinance.

The town is trying to crack down on nuisance house parties, held mainly by area college students.

However, in a brief filed in Federal Court Tuesday, the ACLU maintained the ordinance fails to "provide fair notice to students, tenants and landlords on what constitutes illegal behavior" and does not provide "fair guidance to the police to ensure non-discriminatory and non-arbitrary enforcement."

“The ordinance is clearly aimed at shaming students and landlords by branding their residences with large orange stickers, the town’s modern-day version of scarlet letters," said ACLU lawyer H. Jefferson Melish. "We look forward to the Court's ruling on our constitutional challenge to this ill-conceived ordinance.”

The ACLU sued over the ordinance last year.

Marc DeSisto, a lawyer for the town, said in court papers that the ordinance is legal under Rhode Island law.