Civil Rights/Civil Liberties
Though civil rights and civil liberties represent two different areas of focus, there is no distinct line between the two.
The term civil rights gained popularity in the 1950s and ’60s and has become associated with Martin Luther King, Jr., the Montgomery Bus Boycott, and the March on Washington. One of the striking characteristics of today’s civil rights movement is its breadth and diversity, encompassing LGBTQIA+ groups, disability advocacy, and immigrants’ rights organizations.
Civil liberties typically fall under the auspices of the First Amendment’s guarantee of freedom of expression, assembly, and religion. Some organizations also consider the right to operate a business or to develop property without government interference a part of civil liberties.
Recent hot topics in Civil Rights/Civil Liberties include issues dealing with the right to same-sex marriage, racial profiling, and problems stemming from a focus on national security.
What do Civil Rights/ Civil Liberties lawyers do?
Civil rights and civil liberties lawyers work in areas of the law that typically fall under the First Amendment’s freedom of expression, assembly, and religion (civil liberties), and under fourteenth amendment’s equal protection clause (civil rights). Civil rights lawyers share a commitment to creating a just society through legal means. To this end, they work on a variety of issues from lobbying for civil rights recognition in the judiciary to litigation-based civil rights advocacy. Civil rights lawyers work for domestic and international non-profit organizations, federal, state, local and international government agencies, and public interest law firms with specialty civil rights practices.
What to do if you are interested in Civil Rights/Civil Liberties?
Georgetown Law Courses
Civil Rights
Advanced Civil Rights: The Civil Rights Act of 1964, The Frontiers of Civil Rights Enforcement and the Next Fifty years
Education Law: Civil Rights and Civil Liberties
Employment Discrimination
Georgetown Law Seminars
Topics in LGBT Civil Rights Seminar
Civil Rights Statutes and the Supreme Court Seminar
Georgetown Law Clinics
Appellate Courts Immersion Clinic
Appellate Litigation Clinic
Center for Applied Legal Studies (CALS)
Civil Litigation Clinic
Civil Rights Clinic
Racial Equity in Education Law and Policy Clinic
Rising for Justice