Constitutional Accountability Center Constitutional Accountability Center

Civil and Human Rights

Securing the Constitution’s guarantees of liberty and equality for all
i
Civil Rights March on Washington, 1963 | National Archives and Records Administration

Summary

The Constitution–in particular, through amendments ratified in the wake of the Civil War and Reconstruction–provides broad guarantees of liberty and equality. CAC works to ensure that the civil and human rights protected by the Constitution are realized for all.

Civil and Human Rights in Brief

Plaintiffs in U.S. v. Windsor walking down the steps of the Supreme Court | Judith Schaeffer

Major victories have been achieved in recent years, such as the Supreme Court’s decision in Obergefell v. Hodges guaranteeing marriage equality for all Americans, and the Court’s ruling in Riley v. California that warrantless searches by police of the digital contents of an arrestee’s cell phone violates the Fourth Amendment. However, our civil and human rights are increasingly under attack — by the Trump administration and in the states — and CAC is working tirelessly to defend those rights.

Featured Case

Civil and Human Rights December 1, 2021

Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization

In 2018, Jackson Women’s Health Organization challenged the constitutionality of Mississippi’s Gestational Age Act, which prohibits nearly all abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy, with limited exceptions for fetal abnormalities and medical emergencies.  Both the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit held that the law was unconstitutional under the Supreme Court’s precedents in Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood v. Casey, both of which recognized the constitutional right to pre-viability abortion. Mississippi then filed a petition for a writ of certiorari in the Supreme Court, urging the...

Case Timeline

Current
  • The Supreme Court hears oral argument
  • CAC files amicus curiae brief

Related Issue Areas

Immigration and Citizenship See More
Health Care See More