Their Voting Rights

A Group of Students Were Never Taught About Their Voting Rights—So They’re Suing

Rhode Island students have gone to court to have their fundamental rights taught in school.

DAVID BEARD

What does the right to vote entail exactly? What is the separation of powers guaranteed in the Constitution?

At a time of impeachment, escalating climate change, and justified fears of foreign interference and widespread voter suppression in the presidential election, these are the crucial questions that a group of Rhode Island students say they haven’t been taught to answer in school. So they’ve gone to court to ensure they’re educated, the Christian Science Monitor reported. The students’ lawsuit argues that Rhode Island violates their constitutional rights by not teaching them the skills or providing knowledge to vote or serve on juries.

“I didn’t learn my voting rights through school,” says Aleita Cook, a Providence public school graduate and a plaintiff. Nor, Cook says, did she learn about how the three branches of government are checks and balances on power, a key constitutional feature designed to prevent a dictatorial power grab.

The Rhode Island students aren’t alone in turning to courts to demand education. Detroit students have filed a separate lawsuit, arguing there’s a constitutional right to literacy.