Civil rights can generally be thought of as constitutional rights, that is, rights that are protected by the United States Constitution. This would be things like the right to equal protection under the law and the right to free speech.

The most commonly used law for enforcing civil rights is 42 U.S.C. § 1983. This law is pretty straightforward—if a state or local government employee uses their government position to violate a citizen’s constitutional rights, the citizen can file a lawsuit. The citizen can recover damages (money) and, in some cases, their attorney’s fees, thereby encouraging private enforcement of this law. 

There are other laws protecting civil rights also, such as the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Civil rights claims come in a lot of shapes and sizes. Different laws are often combined or joined together to bring multiple claims.

Yes. Even if someone is in jail or prison, they still have civil rights. Those rights are limited, but not completely gone.

The most common civil rights issue prisoners face pertains to medical care. Jail officials have a responsibility to facilitate necessary medical care for people in their custody. According to the legal standard, “deliberate indifference” to a prisoner’s health needs may be considered a civil rights violation.

In the legal context, accessibility generally means making things accessible to people with disabilities. There are a lot of different laws that govern accessibility. 

Federally, the major law is the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). The ADA prohibits discrimination against people with disabilities in employment, in services offered by public entities (e.g., state and local governments), and in services offered by businesses that serve the public (e.g., stores and restaurants). Another major federal law is the Rehabilitation Act, which generally prohibits discrimination based on disability by federal agencies, federal contractors, and entities that accept federal funds (e.g., local school districts).

States often have accessibility laws also. For instance, Texas has Human Resources Code, Chapter 121. That law is read in conjunction with Government Code, Chapter 469, and the Texas Accessibility Standards. The Texas Labor Code, Chapter 21, also prohibits employment discrimination based on someone’s disability.

These laws collectively cover things like employment, housing, interpreters, architecture, and even websites.

The term “disability” can be defined in a variety of ways. But in the context of disability discrimination, the most widely-accepted definition comes from the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), found at 42 U.S.C. 12102.

Under that definition, disability means a physical or mental impairment that “substantially limits” one of more “major life activities” of an individual, a record of such an impairment, or being regarded as having such an impairment. 

The phrase “major life activities” includes a lot of activities, such as caring for oneself, performing manual tasks, seeing, hearing, eating, sleeping, walking, standing, lifting, bending, speaking, breathing, learning, reading, concentrating, thinking, communicating, and working. It also includes the operation of major bodily functions, such as someone’s immune or respiratory system.

Yes, but the rules are nuanced. Generally speaking, a private business does not need to observe someone’s civil rights. For instance, if you are speaking loudly at a restaurant, you can be asked to leave. It is not a free speech issue because the restaurant is not “the government” trying limit speech; the restaurant is a private business. Similarly, a private employer can usually require a drug test as a condition of employment or search your work desk without running afoul of any laws, whereas “the government” might need a search warrant for those types of activities.

That said, some civil rights can be violated by private businesses. For instance, race discrimination is prohibited by private businesses. Likewise for disability discrimination. This is a nuanced area of the law, which can also be impacted by whether a private business receives federal funding (e.g., a hospital that accepts Medicare/Medicaid).