Constitutional Accountability Center Constitutional Accountability Center

Civil and Human Rights

Securing the Constitution’s guarantees of liberty and equality for all
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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

While major victories have been achieved in the Supreme Court in recent decades, the right to be treated equally remains under attack on issues including affirmative action, reproductive freedom, and the rights of LGBTQ persons. CAC works to defend those rights in the courts and the public square.

Featured Case

Civil and Human Rights June 24, 2022

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 Court to sustain...

Case Timeline

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

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