From The Encyclopedia of Mormonism Author: Riggs, Robert E.
Civil rights are legal guarantees designed to protect persons
from arbitrary or discriminatory treatment. Common examples are
those protecting freedom of speech, freedom of worship, freedom
of assembly, the right to due process of law, the right to vote,
the right to equal protection of the law, and safeguards for
persons accused of crime, such as the right against self-
incrimination, the right to confront one's accuser, the right to
a jury trial, the right to counsel, and the right to a speedy
trial. These and other rights are declared in the Constitution
of the United States of America and in the constitutions of many
other countries (see Constitutional Law). Civil rights are found
in statutes as well as in constitutions and may provide, for
example, detailed guarantees against public and private
discrimination on the basis of such characteristics as race,
gender, age, and religion. Civil rights issues arise when people
disagree about the rights th