U.S. Commission on Civil Rights
The US Commission on Civil Rights is an independent federal agency tasked with investigating and reporting to Congress on American civil rights issues. Its publication section, organized into themes, supplies all of these reports. It also includes older issues of the Civil Rights Journal, a glossy magazine written by the Commission that includes feature articles on various civil rights controveries and reviews of relevent books. The Commission provides an adequate introduction to modern human rights controveries in the United States.
The Civil Rights Clearinghouse
The Civil Rights Clearinghouse is a web portal run by the US Commission on Civil Rights that collects civil rights-related documents from across various American federal departments responsible for enforcing civil rights law. While the site is not currently being used to its full potential, it nonetheless saves users from having to search multiple sites for information. It currently draws documents from the Department of Justice, the Department of Education, the Department of Labour, and the Equal Opportunity Employment Commission.
The Department of State
The State Department is responsible for promoting human rights abroad and for submitting American Treaty Reports to the United Nations. These reports are easily available on the State Department website. The State Department is also responsible for the creation of annual human rights reports on every country in the world. The reports assess each country's adherence to treaty obligations set out by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. These reports are invaluable to anybody seeking an introduction to the human rights situation in a given country.
The State Department - Humanrights.gov
Humanrights.gov is the American government's portal for human rights-related information. The site features thematic reports on a wide range of human rights issues (e.g. Trafficking in Persons, Child Labor, International Religious Freedom) which can be easily accessed by the Reports Finder, which allows users to browse reports by issue, region, or type of report. There is also a reference section that features key national and international human rights documents and a chronology of key moments in the establishment of human rights in the United States. The site provides a user-friendly interface for anybody wanting to determine what priorities the US State Department places on what rights.
The US Department of Justice, Civil Rights Division
The Civil Rights Division of the US Department of Justice is tasked with upholding the civil and constitutional rights of Americans. Its website's "Cases and Matters" section provides a sizeable list of cases and decrees, sorted by which section handled them (e.g. Criminal Section, Employment Litigation Section, Voting Section). The "Publications" section features booklets and brochures, newsletters, and reports. Also, the FOIA section includes an electronic reading room featuring documents frequently requested through the Freedom of Information Act. The site is an excellent first stop for those in need of case law related to human rights in the US.
Project Diana
Project Diana is a resource for those looking for case law related to human rights but don't want to sift through the hundreds of cases provided by the US Department of Justice. A project of Yale University's law library, the site provides documents for sixteen landmark human rights cases. While its usefulness is limited by its small selection, it is still helpful for anyone in need of an important human rights case but who may not have the time to seek one out.
The University of Minnesota Human Rights Library
The American Civil Liberties Union
The American Civil Liberties Union is a not-for-profit organization that seeks to assist Americans in protecting their rights to free speech, association, assembly, religion, and press; to equal protection under the law; to due process; and to privacy. Their "Key Issues" section includes a lists of trending issues and topics that allows users to survey the most current human rights controversies at a glance. Additionally, the bottom quarter of the homepage provides a comprehensive index of all the areas of rights and discrimination the ACLU handles. Anybody who wants to understand the extent to which human rights impact everyday life should turn will find the breadth of the ACLU's resources invaluable.
