Police Technology and Surveillance
License Plate Readers: How Police Track Vehicle Movements
Where the law allows, police can save a car’s location even when its plate matches none of the vehicles they are looking for. License plate readers…
Your Rights and Freedoms
Your rights and freedoms are the protections that government owes the people it serves, and the limits on what government may do. They come from the Constitution, federal and state laws, and court decisions. Congress, state legislatures, agencies, and courts shape and enforce them, and they reach speech, fairness, privacy, work, school, health, and family life.
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Latest in Your Rights and Freedoms
Defenses to Removal
Deportation to a Third Country: Notice and Legal Rights
A third-country removal sends a person being deported somewhere other than the country their removal order names. It can happen to people with final removal orders,…
Freedom of Speech Press and Assembly
What the First Amendment Actually Protects
Learn what the First Amendment protects, from workplace speech to threats, protests, and campaign spending, using three key questions.
Privacy and Protection From Searches
What a Search Warrant Actually Allows FBI Agents to Take
On the morning of February 25, 2026, FBI agents arrived at two locations: the San Pedro home of Alberto Carvalho, superintendent of the Los Angeles Unified…
Topics in Your Rights and Freedoms
Constitutional protections
Constitutional Rights covers the freedoms set out in the Constitution and its amendments. Criminal Justice Rights covers protections for people accused of crimes, and Rights When Interacting with Authorities covers what people can expect when dealing with police and officials.
Constitutional Rights
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Equality and inclusion
Civil Rights and Equal Protection covers laws against unfair treatment, while Disability Policy and LGBTQ Rights cover the protections and policies that affect those communities.
Daily life
Economic and Workplace Rights, Education Rights, Healthcare Rights, and Family and Personal Rights cover protections in work, school, medical care, and home life. Civil Law and Disputes covers how private conflicts are settled in court.
Economic and Workplace Rights
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Education Rights
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Healthcare Rights
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Information and expression
Digital Rights covers freedoms online, Government Transparency covers the public's access to official records, and Media, Press and Policy covers the press and the rules that shape it.
All Articles on Your Rights and Freedoms
TSA Agents Must Work Unpaid During Shutdowns. Here’s What Labor Law Says.
This isn't some bureaucratic oversight or emergency improvisation. It's exactly what federal law allows. The legal framework permitting the government to require unpaid labor…
The Speech or Debate Clause: Why Prosecuting Lawmakers Is Nearly Impossible
Grand juries indict more than ninety percent of the time when federal prosecutors ask them to. This wasn't one of those times. The Trump…
When Government Officials Post Offensive Content: What the Law Allows
On Thursday night, February 5, 2026, at 11:44 PM ET, President Donald Trump posted a 62-second video to Truth Social showing former President Barack…
Inside the DOJ Civil Rights Division: How Cases Get Selected for Investigation
On January 24, 2025, the Justice Department made two announcements that drew a sharp contrast. Federal prosecutors would pursue charges against protesters accused of…
Can Prosecutors Choose Which Civil Rights Violations to Pursue?
On January 13, 2026, the Justice Department announced it would not investigate the killing of Renee Good, a 37-year-old mother of three and U.S.…
Brady v. Maryland Requires Prosecutors to Investigate Police Misconduct. Here’s Why.
Most people outside the criminal justice system have never heard of a 1963 Supreme Court case called Brady v. Maryland. Brady creates personal legal…
Can Federal Agents Conduct Stops Without Reasonable Suspicion? It Depends.
Federal agents deployed to Minneapolis have shot and killed two U.S. citizens. Can federal immigration officers stop and detain people without reasonable suspicion—specific facts…
Federal Preemption: When National Regulation Limits Company Liability in Lawsuits
John Durnell spent years spraying Roundup without protective gear, and the EPA-approved label carried no cancer warning. He developed non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. A St. Louis…
How DOJ Decides Which Deaths to Investigate: George Floyd and Renee Good
On January 7, 2026, a Minneapolis woman sits in her car on a residential street. An Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent fires three shots…
How Federal Immunity Can Limit State Investigations Into Deaths by Federal Agents
Seven days after the shooting on January 7, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche announced on January 14, 2026, that the Justice Department had determined…