Civil Right Interference – A Growing Issue

Civil rights are framed in the interest of every individual. Every person has his own rights and no one else can deprive him of it. But in case a person is being deprived of his civil rights by a private individual and he files a lawsuit, it generally won’t be a successful one unless there is an existence of a Federal or state statute that authorizes such suit being filed against a private individual. So the question for the hour is “Can I sue someone who interferes with my civil rights?”

 

For an instance, assume a person is trying to give a speech in some other person’s house. And if by chance the owner of the house kicks him out, he cannot sue the person for depriving him of the First Amendment which is the right-to-free speech. But in case the owner beats him blue and black while getting him to stop, then he is eligible to sue that person under the section, intentional tort of battery. There are many Federal and state statutes which covers fields such as Employment, Housing and public accommodations. Any individual can sue the court to prevent himself from being discriminated in those areas. An individual is also eligible to sue a government employee if he is attempting to deprive of his civil rights even while still acting “under the color of law”. So the question shouldn’t be “Can I sue someone who interferes with my civil rights?” but “What type of Civil law interferences can be sued?”