The Rhode Island chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union is suing the City of Woonsocket and a former police detective for wrongfully arresting and incarcerating a homeless man for a 2022 break-in. 

The lawsuit filed Thursday in federal court in Providence alleges that Mack Blackie’s civil rights were violated when he was twice arrested and detained by Woonsocket police for a crime he didn’t commit.  

Blackie spent more than a month locked up at the Adult Correctional Institutions on the felony breaking-and-entering charge because he couldn’t afford to pay the bail. (The felony charge has been dismissed and the case expunged from Blackie’s record.)