Civil Rights
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What are Civil Rights?
Civil rights are fundamental guarantees that protect individuals from unequal treatment or abuse based on certain personal characteristics. They often occur when officials—such as police, prison guards, or government employees—use their authority to inflict harm through excessive force, unlawful arrests, or neglect. When your fundamental rights are violated, the law offers a path to justice. The Frieman Law Firm’s civil rights practice focuses on cases where individuals suffer harm due to misconduct by government officials. We work to hold those in power accountable for their unlawful actions and fight for the compensation and relief our clients deserve.
If you are the victim of civil rights misconduct, a civil rights claim can help you hold the responsible parties accountable.
Types of Civil Rights Violations
Police Misconduct: Experiencing excessive force, an unlawful search or seizure, or discriminatory profiling, false arrest/false imprisonment.
Excessive force
Police officers may use force to protect the public and maintain order, but using force beyond what is necessary is a civil rights violation. Examples of excessive force can include:
- Unnecessary physical beatings, hitting, or kicking an individual.
- Using batons, tasers, or pepper spray when there is no threat.
- Applying restraints so tightly that they cause injury.
- Using lethal force when the person does not pose an immediate threat of serious harm or death.
- Failing to intervene when another officer is using excessive force.
Unlawful search and seizure
The Fourth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution protects people from unreasonable searches and seizures of their person, home, vehicle, and property. An unlawful search occurs when officers:
- Search a person or their property without a warrant and without a valid legal exception, such as probable cause or consent.
- Obtain a warrant by falsifying information to a judge.
- Search an area that is beyond the scope of a lawfully obtained warrant.
- Seize property from a person or their home without proper legal authority.
False arrest and false imprisonment
An arrest must be based on probable cause or a valid warrant. False arrest occurs when police detain someone without a lawful basis. Examples include:
- Arresting a person without a warrant and without probable cause to believe they have committed a crime.
- Detaining a person for an extended period without proper legal justification after a stop.
- Making an arrest based on falsified evidence or dishonest testimony.
Retaliation
Police may not retaliate against individuals for exercising their constitutional rights, such as freedom of speech. Retaliation can include:
- Arresting a person for calling an officer names, so long as the person does not physically interfere with the officer’s duties.
- Destroying or seizing a camera used to record police in a public space.
- Harassing or targeting an individual who has filed a complaint or criticized the department.
Racial profiling and discrimination
Using an individual’s race, ethnicity, or other protected characteristic as a basis for suspicion, investigation, or enforcement violates civil rights. Examples include:
- Stopping or detaining a person solely based on their race or ethnicity, rather than on reasonable suspicion of criminal activity.
- Targeting minority neighborhoods for heavier patrols or enforcement based on a discriminatory bias.
Correctional Staff Misconduct:
- Excessive Force of an incarcerated individual may include unnecessary use of tasers, batons pepper spray, when not needed, unnecessary beating, kicking or striking an inmate, applying physical restraints so tightly or for so long that it causes injury, maliciously and unnecessarily injuring an inmate during a search or routine procedure
- Ignoring or delaying medical treatment for serious health conditions, denying medication, denying medication prescribed by a doctor, failing to provide adequate medical care for inmates withdrawing from drugs or alcohol, ignoring signs of mental health distress, such as suicidal ideation, failing to provide mental health care.
- Failure to Protect, an inmate from harm from other inmates, correctional officers
- Sexual misconduct and assault – Sexual contact between correctional staff and inmates is a civil rights violation and a serious abuse of power.
- Inhumane living conditions The Eighth Amendment prohibits cruel and unusual punishment, which can include subjecting inmates to inhumane living conditions. This can involve denial of basic necessities like food, water, or shelter from extreme weather, unsanitary or disease-ridden housing, severe overcrowding that puts inmates’ safety at risk.
- Retaliation – It is illegal for correctional staff to retaliate against an inmate for filing a grievance, complaining about abuse, or reporting misconduct. Retaliatory actions can include:
- Transferring an inmate to a more restrictive unit.
- Deliberately ignoring an inmate’s requests
- Fabricating a disciplinary charge.
- Workplace Discrimination: Discriminatory hiring, promotion, or termination practices; sexual harassment or a hostile work environment; age discrimination against workers over 40, denial of reasonable accommodations for a disability or religious practice; or unequal pay based on a protected characteristic such as race, gender, religion, national origin, age, disability, or sexual orientation.
- Unfair treatment in public: Denial of access to a public accommodation, such as a restaurant or store, or experiencing barriers to public services because of a protected characteristic (race, gender, religion, national origin, age, disability, or sexual orientation).
- Housing discrimination: Being refused the sale or rental of housing, or subjected to different terms and conditions, based on a protected class.
What to do if you suspect a civil rights violation
If you or a loved one have experienced a civil rights violation it is important to understand your rights. An experienced civil rights attorney can help you navigate the legal system and hold the responsible parties accountable for their actions. Contact the Frieman Law Firm today for a free consultation.
Take the next step
If you believe your civil rights have been violated, it is important to act quickly to protect rights. Contact the Frieman Law Firm today for a confidential consultation.