Civil rights

From Citizendium
Revision as of 14:25, 19 June 2009 by imported>Howard C. Berkowitz (New page: In United States and other legal systems, '''Civil rights''' are an enforceable rights or privilege, which if interfered with by another gives rise to an action for injury<ref name=CLI>{{c...)
(diff) ← Older revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)
Jump to navigation Jump to search

In United States and other legal systems, Civil rights are an enforceable rights or privilege, which if interfered with by another gives rise to an action for injury[1]. The "civil" aspect refers to the rights being inherent to membership in a society, possibly as a right of citizenship or simply something considered inherent to any persons present.

One can suffer discrimination with respect to human rights, if one is prevented from exercising a right for an arbitrary reason not based on behavior, such as race, sex, religion, age, previous condition of servitude, physical limitation, national origin, and in some instances sexual preference.

The international basis for such rights is now codified in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

United States

In the United States, civil rights derive from the Constitution of the United States, the Bill of Rights, and the Thirteenth and Fourteenth Amendments to the Constitution.

References

  1. civil rights: an overview, Legal Information Institute, Cornell University Law School