Questions tagged [civil-rights]

Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from infringement by governments, social organizations, wealthy and powerful people and private individuals.

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Which countries provide their citizens with quick and easy ways to get current status of public projects?

Governments around the world finance many "projects" , for example infrastructure(highways, railways, etc.) or public facilities(hospitals, schools, etc.) Once such a project is announced, ...
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What would violate First Amendment rights by government action on social media?

The Twitter Files have been released over recent weeks. There have been quite a few claims, counter claims, people with their metaphorical hair metaphorically on-fire, etc., about exactly what ...
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Does any country consider housing and food a right?

Are there any countries that have formally codified in their law books that access to housing and food is an inherent right? In other words, safety from violence is seen as something unconditional to ...
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Have there been any legally held demonstrations against the war (or against the "specially military operation") in Russia?

I'm well aware that Russian authorities have cracked down on spontaneous/illegal anti war demonstrations. Whereas for the pro-military-intervention ones, e.g. using the "Z" sign... Have any ...
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What kind of US house vote was it that first upheld then struck down the Casey Amendment to Title IX? Can the Speaker always call for a revote?

Notes to the June 24, 2022 New York Times video MINK! — My Mom Fought For Title IX, but It Almost Didn’t Happen | Op-Docs end with: ...Wendy Mink narrates her mother’s groundbreaking rise to power ...
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1 answer
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When was the last time the US Supreme Court limited rights with a decision?

The Supreme Court has now officially overruled Roe v Wade, allowing states to restrict the rights of pregnant people. When was the last time the Supreme Court came to a decision that reduced the ...
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7 answers
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What are major reasons behind giving legitimacy to religions & religious practices

Almost all major democracies have freedom of belief, faith and worship under the overall religious freedom. Some religions include controversial practices such as caste hierarchy, circumcision, ...
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Why can't the law discriminate based on your religion, but it's ok for money?

I live in Canada (province of Québec), where we have the Charter of Rights and Freedom that says: Equality Rights Equality before and under law and equal protection and benefit of law 15 (1) Every ...
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Was Trudeau's invocation of the Emergency Act legal? [closed]

On Monday, February 14, 2022, Justin Trudeau invoked the never-before-used Emergencies Act in response to the ongoing Freedom Convoy Protests across the country, including the series of border ...
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1 answer
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Can the effect of US voter ID and registration laws on fraud be compared state-to-state?

From what an outsider can understand of the contentious voter id and registration debates in the USA these are the arguments: Democrats: "Voter ID and registration laws are just another tool to ...
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4th Circuit court: North Carolina laws "targeted blacks with almost surgical precision" after "they got rid of preclearance after Shelby County"?

In CNN's Lindsey Graham picks side in Trump vs. McConnell divide (cued at 01:51) after a clip of US Senate Majority Whip Richard Durben said in reference to President Biden's speech about voting ...
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Why Democratic party in the US push for Voting Rights Bill while most of the Democrat's voters live in urban areas and are from middle class?

These days Voting Rights Bill is a political hot topic and Democrats are pushing to get it passed in the Senate. It seems most of the Democrats' voters reside in urban areas and are from middle social ...
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What are the common features of pro-union and anti-union laws?

I often hear people talk about pro-union and anti-union laws being formulated in legislatures, but I don't really understand their differences. What sort of provisions usually appear in these laws? ...
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Is there an objective ground for restricting forms of speech/opinion?

Is there an objective ground for restricting forms of speech/opinion? In other words, a restriction that's not biased, but one that may be interpreted independently of the subject. I find it hard to ...
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What are the advantages of an apostasy certificate to a Polish citizen?

There have been reports of an increase in Polish Catholics applying for apostasy certificates to leave the church. I believe that some Islamic countries' laws are different for Muslims and non-Muslims ...
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If the Democrats get rid of the filibuster to pass voting rights can the next congress repeal these voting rights with a simple majority?

If the Democrats get rid of the filibuster to pass voting rights can the next congress repeal these voting rights with a simple majority? Targeting State Restrictions, House Passes Landmark Voting ...
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Why isn't there an inquiry into the assassination of Malcolm X, given that there is solid evidence of a conspiracy by the FBI targetting him?

Raymond Wood, a former NYPD undercover officer, in a death-bed confession, admitted to being part of a conspiracy to target Malcolm X. He stated that he was part of a conspiracy by the NYPD to trap ...
2 votes
1 answer
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When was the idea of universal adult suffrage first conceived, and by whom?

I understand that universal adult suffrage has its basis in universal manhood suffrage (1789 Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen). It was then extended to include all adult women, ...
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How do modern conservatives frame identity-based disparities?

I was reading the president's recent 1776 Commission and was struck by how the idea of identity politics is portrayed as the offspring of the Civil Rights Movement (actually called pejoractively? the &...
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1 answer
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In constitutional monarchies, what would happen to the line of succession if the heir-apparent is gay? [closed]

This question is asked in the context of 2021. I understand that people used to just get married and have kids anyways. But in 2021, it seems backward - even inhumane - for monarchies to cover up ...
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Why do US police treat using counterfeit money as an emergency?

One thing that surprises me about the George Floyd incident is that the police would treat the passing of a counterfeit $20 in a corner shop as some kind of an emergency. If someone called the ...
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Has any of the US federal armed forces acted violently against civil movements / protesters?

Details may be confusing, but I mean to ask whether federal armed forces, including the military (Army, Navy, etc.) and policing/investigative organizations (FBI, Bureau of Prisons, the U.S. Marshals,...
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Are nations required to allow their own citizens entry under international law?

The motivation for this question is the recent US travel ban on foreigners entering the country from Schengen area countries, which is due to expand to include the UK and Ireland on Tuesday, and the ...
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Is it true that a man in the US is only given the right to vote if he accepts the draft?

Is it true that men are only given the right to vote if they agree to give to government the right to conscription? Of course, women only need to be 18 and have no further obligations put on them? How ...
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Did Palestinians have an opportunity to assimilate into Kuwait society and culture before the Gulf War of 1990 to 1991?

Approximately 400,000 Palestinians lived in Kuwait before the Gulf War of 1990-1991. Did they have an opportunity to assimilate into Kuwait society and culture? That's simply a "yes" or "no" question,...
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Why is there a need to prevent a racist, sexist, or otherwise bigoted vendor from discriminating who they sell to?

Background The issue of discriminating who you sell to in the United States seems to be premised on the fact that businesses are public accomodations according to this article: Whether you post a ...
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What election rules and voting rights are guaranteed by the US Constitution?

Following the recent US Supreme Court decision that gerrymandering for political purposes is not prohibited by the US Constitution, I realized that it can be hard to understand what rules related to ...
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What are the current battlegrounds for people’s “rights” in the UK? [closed]

What are the current progressive battlegrounds for “rights” in the UK? The reason I ask is that all of the areas I can think of could be said to already be relatively “progressive.” The Abortion Act ...
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What can a person do if she could not cast her vote during EU parliamentary elections?

European Parliament elections has passed and Romanian diaspora once again had serious difficulties in casting a vote (Bristol Post, Dubai City Reporter, Vice). Thousands of Romanian diaspora ...
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Terry stop without reasonable suspicion (police hunch)

What is wrong with a Terry stop without reasonable suspicion ? It would not be better to anticipate the committing of a crime, sacrificing a bit the rights of the population? I am asking about the ...
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1 answer
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Are there any countries with specific legislation or policy on the rights of strong AI?

Any country that has detailed the specific rights they grant strong AI and how they define that strong AI and their stance towards it?
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What is the oldest "true" democracy?

According to PolitiFact, the United States is the oldest democracy. However, the 26th Amendment, guaranteeing that all citizens 18 and over can vote, was only ratified in 1971 and the Voting Rights ...
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Why are property rights considered negative rights?

I am educating myself on the differences between positive and negative rights. This website describes positive rights as 'freedom to' something, and negative rights as 'freedom from' something. ...
8 votes
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Why was Switzerland one of the last countries to give women the vote?

Women in Switzerland were only given the right to vote on a federal level in 1971, a time when every single European country had given women the franchise decades prior, and a time when pretty much ...
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How do felony disenfranchisement laws differ state by state?

Why is it that for felony disenfranchisement only certain rights seem to be lost and they differ state by state. Such as voting, jury duty, weapons. But some rights are never affected such as ...
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What are some examples of rights that cost money?

Most of the rights that I am aware of (at least in the USA) are rights that are granted to me free of charge, by virtue of being born here. I don't need to fill any paperwork or pay any fee. I can ...
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If a group is labeled as a terrorist group, what rights are abridged to the group or the individuals?

In Tennessee, a bill was drafted for consideration that denounced hate and discrimination in general and "white nationalist and neo-Nazi groups" in particular. It went further to request those groups ...
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Notwithstanding Clause of Canadian Constitution

The Canadian Constitution has a clause commonly referred to as the Notwithstanding Clause. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Section_33_of_the_Canadian_Charter_of_Rights_and_Freedoms Basically, it ...
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2 answers
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Why marriage and not family?

The question Why do governments legislate marriage? has good answers about why the State has a [historic] incentive to legislate marriage. I'll briefly state interconnected definitions of marriage ...
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Why allow convicted criminals to vote?

According to a 1998 HRW report, The United States may have the world’s most restrictive criminal disenfranchisement laws. We know of no other democracy besides the United States in which convicted ...
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1 answer
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Do Canadian Charter Rights protect customers against discrimination on political grounds?

Similar to the recent Sarah Huckabee Sanders @ Red Hen incident, Vancouver had a customer being refused service due to wearing a Make America Great Again hat. Basically, the manager asked him to ...
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Demographic with greatest difficulty in maintaining current US Voter ID?

In the US, for persons eligible, the relative costs or feasibility of obtaining, (or if necessary, maintaining), some current valid form of Voter ID varies by situation or condition. Particularly ...
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What is the proper (non-"Gerrymandering") purpose of political districting?

I read some other posts here that discuss gerrymandering. It seems to me that I still have a question that these posts don’t answer, but I’m not at all sure that I can make it clear. But here we go. ...
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Off-duty policewoman shoots armed robber [closed]

Recently in Brazil, an armed thief tried to robber several mothers and children at the exit of a school during Mother's day. However, an off-duty policewoman shoot three times in his chest and he died ...
2 votes
1 answer
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How can a political campaign obtain my personal data? [closed]

A campaign volunteer contacted me about my voting choices for this November election... which wouldn’t be noteworthy hadn’t he addressed me by my wife’s name. When I asked about how they had ...
4 votes
1 answer
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How is it decided which rights can be voluntarily waived?

Two examples: In a criminal trial, you have a right to a defense attorney, but you can waive this right. In labor law, you have a number of labor related rights that, if you could voluntarily waive ...
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What is a “right” according to the U.S. Constitution?

The United States Declaration of Independence is based upon the "self-evident" truth that "all men are… endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights". The Ninth Amendment of the U.S. ...
3 votes
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Are there US documents other than the Constitution which detail Individual Rights?

The constitution contains the "Bill of Rights." The first 8 amendments detail rights of an individual. If other rights exist beyond those enumerated in the constitution, where are they documented, and ...
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Are there any examples of dealing with unenforced laws? [closed]

Attorney Harvey Silverglate argues that loosely interpreted legislation allows overzealous US prosecutors to charge any particular (disliked) citizen with Three Felonies A Day. If true, this appears ...
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Can someone explain the difference between Civil Rights, Civil Liberties and Freedoms?

We encounter these terms frequently in everyday readings. Although they have almost the same meanings but there exist intricate differences. Please explain with some examples the differences and ...