Also known as: civil right · civil-rights
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
Fundamental rights and liberties secured to individuals by the Constitution and federal statutes against governmental or private interference. These rights include protections against racial discrimination in marriage and employment, privacy in intimate conduct, and due process safeguards in criminal and juvenile proceedings. Statutory schemes such as the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and 42 U.S.C. § 1983 supply remedies for violations.
Camila Cervantes, a lawyer, provides free representation to a nonprofit group challenging a state voting restriction that disproportionately burdens minority citizens. The organization lacks funds to pay standard fees. Her services qualify under the rule allowing reduced-fee work to protect civil rights when payment would deplete resources.
Central Dynamics, a nonprofit, mails informational letters to residents explaining their constitutional rights and offering free legal help in civil rights matters. State officials attempt to ban the mailings as improper solicitation. The letters receive First Amendment protection as expressive activity advancing civil rights objectives.
Select any source to read its text and confirm it supports the definition.
Cassandra Cooper and her husband seek to obtain contraceptives from a licensed physician in violation of a state criminal statute. They challenge the law as an unconstitutional invasion of marital privacy. The Court recognizes the right to make intimate decisions free from unwarranted governmental intrusion.
Christian Coleman, a juvenile, faces an adjudication hearing on charges that would constitute a felony if committed by an adult. The state seeks to apply a preponderance standard. The Court requires proof beyond a reasonable doubt to protect the juvenile's liberty interest without stripping civil rights upon adjudication.
Clifford Cox, a white man, and Christine Castro, a Black woman, marry in violation of Virginia's anti-miscegenation statute. They are prosecuted and seek to have the convictions set aside. The Court invalidates the statute as an invidious racial classification violating equal protection and due process.
Cynthia Cortez and her same-sex partner are arrested in their home for engaging in consensual sexual conduct prohibited by state law. They challenge the statute as an unconstitutional intrusion on liberty. The Court holds that the Due Process Clause protects personal decisions concerning intimate relationships.
Rule 6.1(b)(1) expressly counts delivery of free or reduced-fee services to individuals or groups seeking to secure or protect civil rights as qualifying pro bono work when standard fees would deplete organizational resources.
Nonprofit groups that inform citizens of their rights and offer free representation in civil rights cases engage in protected expressive and associational activity. Outright bans on their communications are generally impermissible.
A finding that a juvenile violated criminal law does not constitute a criminal conviction and does not deprive the juvenile of civil rights, provided the reasonable-doubt standard is applied at the adjudicatory stage.
…whipping—and to sustained and protracted questioning incommunicado in order to extort confessions.[^maj-6] The Commission on Civil Rights in 1961 found much evidence to indicate that "some policemen still resort to physical force to obtain confessions," 1961 Comm'n on Civil Rights Rep., Justice, pt. 5, 17. The use of physical…