Rhode Island General Laws Title 42. State Affairs and Government § 42-133-11.1. Stay of execution upon appeal

(a) In order to secure and protect the monies to be received as a result of the Master Settlement Agreement, as defined in § 42-133-3, in civil litigation under any legal theory involving a signatory, a successor of a signatory, or an affiliate of a signatory to the Master Settlement Agreement, the supersedeas bond to be furnished in order to stay the execution of the judgment during the entire course of appellate review shall be set in accordance with applicable laws or court rules, except that the total supersedeas bond in any one case that is required of all appellants collectively shall not exceed fifty million dollars ($50,000,000) regardless of the value of the judgment.  The limitation on the amount of the bond set out in this section does not apply to awards resulting from actions enforcing payments under the Master Settlement Agreement, as defined in § 42-133-3.

(b) Notwithstanding subsection (a), if an appellee proves by a preponderance of the evidence that an appellant is dissipating assets outside the ordinary course of business to avoid payment of a judgment, a court may require the appellant to post a supersedeas bond in an amount up to the total amount of the judgment.