Courts & rulings
Rhode Island · highest court
Rhode Island Supreme Court
Appointed by governor
Chief: Appointed by the governor from a Judicial Nominating Commission slate, with advice and consent of the Senate and House (same as associate justices); holds office for life.
Justices
All judges & justices →- Paul A. Suttell
- William P. Robinson III
- Erin Lynch Prata
- Melissa A. Long
Roster as of 2026-06-13.
Constitution of the State of Rhode Island
Adopted 1986. Its declaration of rights sits in Article I (Declaration of Certain Constitutional Rights and Principles). This court has the final word on what the Rhode Island constitution means.
Not well documented
How a state reads its own rights provisions relative to the federal floor, lockstep vs departure.
State-court structure and selection methods are from official and reference sources; the justice roster is point-in-time. Civibrief carries each state's highest court (lower state courts are out of scope for now).