The Rhode Island affiliate of the American Civil Liberties Union is defending a Westerly resident and beach access advocate being sued by the Weekapaug Fire District for advocating that the Rhode Island Coastal Resources Management Council designate a public right-of-way to the Quonochontaug Barrier Beach.
The ACLU is working with former Rhode Island Assistant Attorney General Michael Rubin, who is also representing the defendant, Caroline Contrata, in proceedings before the CRMC over the contested right-of-way called Spring Avenue.
Rubin, who filed a court motion to dismiss the lawsuit on Wednesday, calls the legal action taken by the Weekapaug Fire District against Contrata a classic example of an illegal SLAPP lawsuit – a “strategic lawsuit against public participation” intended to deter people from exercising their freedom of speech.
The fire district, which says it owns Spring Avenue and has the right to block the public with a fence, did not immediately respond to a request for comment sent Thursday morning.
Shoreline access advocates have criticized the increasingly litigious fire district over the lawsuit filed in December, calling it retaliation. Around that time, the Weekapaug Fire District also sent deposition notices to people who donated to a GoFundMe campaign Contrata started to raise funds for her legal efforts before the CRMC.
The new lawsuit by the fire district names 20 defendants, including the Attorney General’s Office, the town of Westerly, individual town council members, and the CRMC.
The fire district is seeking damages in the case, accusing the defendants of “slander of title” for calling into question the district’s claim to the land.
According to Rubin and the ACLU, by taking legal action against Contrata, a private individual, the fire district – a tax-raising, government entity chartered by the state – is singling her out because she “had the temerity to ask the CRMC to designate a tract that is universally acknowledged as a roadway … as a public right-of-way.”
The Spring Avenue legal saga dates back several years. Under pressure from shoreline access advocates in the fall of 2020, the town of Westerly referred the right-of-way to the CRMC to be investigated as a potential public right-of-way to the shoreline.
The Weekapaug Fire District has hired a national law firm, Locke Lord, to fight public designation for Spring Avenue and a separate path along the barrier beach called the Sand Trail.
The Spring Avenue case drew the attention of Rubin, who signed Contrata on as a defendant to argue the case before the CRMC. The Rhode Island Attorney General’s Office and the environmental group Save The Bay have also gotten involved to argue for public access.
The ACLU points out this is the organization’s “third skirmish” with the Weekapaug Fire District in less than six months.
In September, the ACLU sent a letter to the fire district, objecting to Weekapaug’s policy of blocking access to its website through a log-in system. Weekapaug then opened up the site for the public to view.
Then, in December, the ACLU publicly admonished the district for the letters it sent to Contrata’s donors notifying them that they may become witnesses in the Spring Avenue matter.