Illinois Civil Rights Lawyer

What is an Illinois Civil Rights Lawyer?

Civil rights are those rights that individual in the United States are guaranteed through the Constitution that allow citizens individual freedoms to be free of unwarranted intrusions by the government and private intrusion. Civil rights protect an individual from discrimination and oppression. These include discrimination based on age, gender, race, ethnicity and other protected classes. Civil rights also protect an individual’s right to speech, assembly, and religion.

Illinois Civil Rights lawyers represent clients in the State of Illinois that have been discriminated against due to any of these situations. Illinois Civil Rights lawyers also represent clients who have been victim of sexual harassment in the workplace as well as those who have been denied their Constitutional rights of speech, assembly, religion or the press.

Types of Civil Rights Violations

Discrimination occurs when a business, the government, or an employer adversely treats an individual, either on its face or in effect, because of a specific characteristic deemed to be within a protected class. The federal government, beginning with the Civil Rights Act, has created numerous federal statues in order to protect individuals from discrimination from the government and from employers. These anti-discrimination statutes protect individuals from being negatively treated in housing, employment, lending, access to businesses and education. Discrimination often is not on its face but is in the subtext of decisions by the government and private institutions. If you think that you have been denied opportunities and discrimination has played a part in adverse decisions involving your employment, housing, lending, education or anything else then an Illinois Civil Rights lawyer may be necessary to remedy the situation. The constitution protects different “classes” in different ways. Some “classes,” such as race, are afforded more protections than others. An Illinois Civil Rights Lawyer will be able to inform you of whether you are a protected class to which you are afforded certain anti-discrimination protections.

Harassment is another form of a civil rights violation in which an individual, usually an employee, suffers from unwanted verbal, or physical, actions from an employer or co-worker due to their gender, or sexual orientation. Harassment in the workplace occurs when an employee is ridiculed, inappropriately touched, verbally accosted or made to feel uncomfortable in the workplace due to their gender, race, religion, or sexual orientation. When you have been harassed during your employment you must first inform your employer or co-worker that the actions are unacceptable. If the inappropriate behavior has continued or resulted in an adverse or uncomfortable employment situation then you may want to contact an Illinois Civil Rights lawyer.

Illinois Civil Rights lawyers also represent clients who have been denied their first Amendment rights of free speech, assembly, religion, and the press. A citizen of the United States has the right to be vocal about his, or her, opposition to government action as well as choose his, or her, religion. When any first Amendment right is violated it is important that you contact an Illinois Civil Rights lawyer. Many people get the false impression that all speech is protected. This is wrong; there are many limitations of first Amendment rights including time/place/manner as well as obscenity and insightful speech. Illinois Civil Rights lawyers are experts on Constitutional law and will be able to use their knowledge to fight against the unlawful violation of your first Amendment rights.

Where do I find an Illinois Civil Rights lawyers?

If you are a resident of the State of Illinois and you have been discriminated against, harassed, or had your first Amendment rights violated then you will have many options in finding an Illinois Civil Rights lawyer. Almost all law firms have websites that can be easily accessed through a basic internet search. These websites will often give detailed descriptions of the Illinois civil rights lawyer’s certificates, education, areas of practice, and results that they have attained through representing clients.

www.ilf.isba.org is an ABA recognized referral service that helps individuals find Illinois Civil Rights Lawyers, among other lawyer. The service is free to use and can be very helpful in retaining Illinois civil rights lawyers. You can also contact the service by calling 888-641-1806. Once that is done someone from the Illinois Lawyer Referral service will contact you to refer you to Illinois civil rights lawyers in your area that will be helpful. By using the referral service you will receive a 30 minute consultation with an Illinois Civil Rights lawyer for a minimum of $25.

You may also go the website of the American Civil Liberties Union. The ACLU handles all kinds of matters involving civil rights and civil liberties. By going to their website at www.ACLU.org you can search for an affiliate office in your area that may be able to put you in touch with Illinois Civil Rights lawyers to help you with a legal problem involving the violation of your civil rights.

Laws-Info.com also has a valuable referral service. Go to the top of this page and clicking on the “find a lawyer” link you will be able to access the laws.com referral service. By putting in your contact information, name, location, and a brief description of your legal problem laws.com will be able to put you in touch with Illinois civil rights lawyers in your area that will help you.