Privacy Policy

Civil Rights Violations

Every human has the right to live their life in a society equally with others without any discrimination. ‘Civil rights’ deals with the rights of an individual to get equal treatment in the society in number of setting like employment, housing, education, transportation etc. Civil Rights ensure equality to all the people irrespective of their gender, race, age, disability and many more. These laws are created by the society for improving the quality of life of individuals in the society. Denial of civil rights is unlawful and will attract legal formalities.

 

Violation of civil rights

Even though the civil rights laws are very effective in various states, different forms of discrimination are blooming up day by day. People should be very much aware of such discriminations and the laws regarding the same. Some of the civil rights violations are mentioned below:-

 

Sexual harassments:-  Unlawful sexual advances, request for sexual favors, and similar verbal or physical behaviors of sexual nature come under the category of sexual harassment. Normally the sexual harassment happens to women by men. Cases like men being sexually harassed by women, women sexually harassed by women, and men by men are also reported.

 

Discrimination in the place of employment:-  Failure or refusal to hire or differentiate against an employee in respect of employment compensation, term, or privilege of employment because of race, religion marital status, weight, height etc are the major factor come under the discrimination on employment. Employment discrimination also includes sexual discrimination-- in the sense of sidelining of a worker on sexual reasons from benefit plans, terms of employment, etc.

 

Civil Rights violations by labor organizations:-  As per the Sec 204 of the Michigan Civil Rights Act 453 of 1976 (Eff. March 31, 1977)  a labor organization should not exclude or expel  a member or an applicant from membership for the reason of religion, color, race , national origin, age, sex, weight or marital status. The law also states that such type of organizations should not make any injustice for settling the grievances of its members because of the above mentioned factors.

 

Civil rights violation with public accommodation and comfort stations:-  The public accommodation and public bathrooms should be accessible to everybody. Denial of any facilities of housing and public bathrooms, because of the race, age, color, religion, marital status, and gender, will come under the violation of civil rights in terms of the public accommodation and public bathrooms.

 

Educational Institutions and civil rights violation:-  Every individual has the right to get education. If an educational institution rejects the admission of a student by the reason of his race, religion, color, marital status, and gender can be considered as the violation of civil rights from the part of educational institution

 

Civil Rights violations by police:-  As per the constitution of United States, the person charged of committing a crime has also civil rights. The US law does not allow the police to force the accused to give information regarding the crime. A suspected person who is remanded in the jail, awaiting court trail should not be treated as a convict. The law has given permission to appoint an attorney for the accused at any time. If the police try to question the accused without the presence of the attorney it will come under the violation of civil rights. According to the constitution of United States; prisoners should be free from the brutal and unusual punishments. All the unkind behavior from the police officials to the convict can be also considered as the violation of the civil rights.

 

Laws regarding the violation of Civil Rights

The Constitutions of various countries describe the need for the enforcement of civil rights. It is widely accepted that the civil rights is originated at the federal level.  Many states have their own statutes to protect the civil rights of the public. The African- American movement during the period of 1955-1968 was the major civil rights protection movement in the United States. This movement was aimed to protect the African American people against the social, economical, and political discrimination by white people. On the basis of the African-American Movement the government passed the Civil Rights Act. Civil Rights Act 1964 banned all kinds of discriminations and ensures equality to every person in employment education and housing. Age discrimination Act of 1975, Americans with disability Act, Voting Rights Act 1964 and the equal credit opportunity Act etc are some of the other legislations enacted for the protection of the Civil Rights. In addition to these legislations various counties having their own law statutes for preserving the civil rights. In Michigan, Michigan Civil Rights Commission and the Department of Civil Rights are always vigilant in protecting the best interest of  people in terms of their civil rights. The department of civil rights of Michigan prevents all kinds of discriminations and settles the grievances of the individuals in employment, schooling, housing and related issues. The victims can file complaint at any of its offices or regional centers with in 180 days of the occurrence.

 

How to arrive at a civil rights violation settlement?

As per the importance of the violation the victim has mainly three choices to arrive at a settlement that are- informal resolution, filing a law suit with the Government and filing a private petition to the court. In most of the cases the victims prefer to settle the issue through an informal way where the petitioner and defendant with their respective lawyers discuss the issues and formulate mutual agreements for the amicable settlement....

For example in the case of sexual harassments most of the defendants and the petitioners prefers to settle the matter outside the court in order to avoid a legal battle.

 For the cases involving in the discrimination on employment and related problems, the law suit must file to the Govt. at the federal level or state level. The government nominated agency will take necessary steps to implement the civil rights. Such type of violations must be filed with the appropriate agencies with in 180 days from the date of the offence. The agencies will start investigation immediately after the submission of the petition. In some cases one or more government agency may get involved in the investigation. The petitioners of the employment discrimination may be eligible to get judgment in terms of reinstatement, back pay, front pay, promotion, attorney fees and damages for mental agonies.

 One can file a private petition at the federal level or at the state level against the party responsible for the denial of rights. The federal agency allows the petitioner to get pecuniary damages in private lawsuits. The petition should precisely lay down the role of the opposing party in terms of violation and reason for the allegation. At the time of court trial the plaintiff must prove prevalence of the evidence against the defendant. Before starting the court trial, the attorney will explain the details of the pleadings and the legal rulings about the case to the plaintiff.  A fair trial can be expected for both the parties from the court in all the cases associated with the civil rights.

The verdict to get damages in terms of money depends on the financial status (includes bank balances, assets, cash in hand etc.) of the defendant. If the defendant is from another State, the plaintiff must record the judgment as the foreign judgment in that State. Ten years is the usual period to collect money from the defendant. If the time period expires then the plaintiff can renew the judgment for another ten years also. The decisions of the trial court can be revised through appeal. In appeals court, the judges review the verdict of the trial court and release orders as per their findings.

Role of Civil Rights Attorneys

The legal issues involving the violation of civil rights are very complex in nature. Only a well practiced attorney can help the victims to arrive at a settlement. An experienced attorney can analyze the situation and present efficient and effective arguments for his client in front of the judge.