Civil Rights Resources
- Digital Commons: Civil Rights & Discrimination CommonsFree access to legal articles & commentary.
- Hein OnlineSelect the Civil Rights and Social Justice collection for documents related to the expansion of civil rights in the U.S.
- Lexis AdvanceSelect "Civil Rights Law" under the Find a Topic tab.
Law students & faculty only. - Westlaw EdgeSelect "Civil Rights Legal Materials & News" under the "Specialty Areas" section of the Content types tab.
Law students & faculty only.
- Understanding Civil Rights Litigation byISBN: 9781531003678Publication Date: 2018Available electronically through the Brandeis Law Digital Library.
Provides an overview of civil rights & constitutional litigation.
Historical Resources
- Civil Rights Digital LibraryOnline films, texts, images, and audio recordings related to the Civil Rights movement in the United States in the 1950's and 1960's.
The Bill of the Century by Call Number: KF4749.R57 2014ISBN: 1608198243Publication Date: 2014The Civil Rights Act of 1964 was the single most important piece of legislation passed by Congress in American history. The bill's passage has often been credited to the political leadership of President Lyndon B. Johnson, or the moral force of Martin Luther King Jr. Yet as Risen shows, the battle for the Civil Rights Act was a story much bigger than those two men.
A Different Shade of Justice by Call Number: E184.A75 H56 2017ISBN: 9781469633695Publication Date: 2017In the Jim Crow South, Chinese, Filipino, Japanese, Vietnamese & Indian Americans faced obstacles similar to those experienced by African Americans in their fight for civil & human rights.
The Greatest and the Grandest Act: the Civil Rights Act of 1866 from Reconstruction to today by Call Number: KF4558 14th .G74 2018ISBN: 9780809336524Publication Date: 2018Ten historians & legal scholars examine the Civil Rights Act of 1866, the first federal civil rights statute in American history.
Policing & Mass Incarceration
- Police ViolenceThis legal research guide was assembled by librarians at the University of Hawaii Law Library.
- University of Louisville Law Review: Vol. 57 No. 1This volume includes articles from a 2018 UofL Law School symposium on structural inequality & race-based policing.
- Whom the State KillsThis article published in the Harvard Civil Rights - Civil Liberties Law Review studies the role of race in predicting who among those sentenced to death under the modern death penalty are actually executed.
Black and Blue: how African Americans judge the U.S. legal system by Call Number: KF4755 .G53 2018ISBN: 9780190865214Publication Date: 2018Explains how & why African Americans differ in their willingness to ascribe legitimacy to legal institutions, as well as in their willingness to accept the policy decisions those institutions promulgate.
Chokehold by Call Number: HV8141 .B88 2017ISBN: 9781595589057Publication Date: 2017A former federal prosecutor explains how the system really works, and how to disrupt it.
Federal Reports on Police Killings by Call Number: HV9950 .F43 2017ISBN: 9781612196541Publication Date: 2017A collection of the complete reports from the Department of Justice's landmark investigations of police violence in three major American cities.
Killing with Prejudice: institutionalized racism in American capital punishment by Call Number: KF9227.C2 M37 2019ISBN: 9781479888603Publication Date: 2019A history of the McCleskey v. Kemp Supreme Court ruling that effectively condoned racism in capital cases.
Locking up Our Own: crime and punishment in black America by Call Number: HV9950 .F67 2018ISBN: 9780374537449Publication Date: 2018Explores the question of why U.S. society became so punitive & offers important lessons to anyone concerned about the future of race & the criminal justice system in the U.S.
Native Americans and the Criminal Justice System by Call Number: KF 8210 .C7 N38 2006ISBN: 9781594511806Publication Date: 2006Examines the causes, effects & solutions for the presence & plight of Native Americans in the criminal justice system.
Policing the Black Man: arrest, prosecution, and imprisonment by Call Number: HV9950 .P64 2017ISBN: 9781101871270Publication Date: 2017Explores & critiques the many ways the criminal justice system impacts the lives of African American boys & men at every stage of the criminal process from arrest through sentencing.
Presumed Guilty: how the Supreme Court empowered the police and subverted civil rights by Call Number: KF5399 .C44 2021ISBN: 9781631496516Publication Date: 2021Presents a history of judicial failure in America, revealing how the Supreme Court has enabled racist practices, including profiling & intimidation & legitimated gross law enforcement excesses that disproportionately affect people of color.
The Rise of Big Data Policing: surveillance, race, and the future of law enforcement by Call Number: HV8141 .F47 2017ISBN: 9781479892822Publication Date: 2017Introduces the cutting-edge technology that is changing how the police do their jobs & shows why it is more important than ever that citizens understand the far-reaching consequences of big data surveillance as a law enforcement tool.
