Quick Resource Guide: Civil Rights / Discrimination Litigation

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What is it?

Civil rights litigation is the legal process of protecting and enforcing the rights of individuals who have experienced discrimination or unequal treatment under the law. Civil rights cases involve important legal rights contained in the United States Constitution, the California Constitution, state and federal statutes, and case law.

Litigation under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, sometimes referred to as Section 1983 litigation, is a type of lawsuit that lets people go to court if a state or local government official (or someone acting like one) violates their federal constitutional or legal rights.

Forms

Videos

    • LA Law Library, Civil Rights | Series of on demand videos to learn about your right to be free from discrimination in employment, housing, public accommodations and education, plus other civil rights under state and federal law.

Books

    • Civil Rights and Civil Liberties Litigation: The Law of Section 1983 – KF1325.C58, Federal Practice Active Titles, Stack 107, also available online via Westlaw.
    • California Civil Practice: Civil Rights Litigation – KFC695.L56, CA Collection 1st Floor, also available online via Westlaw.
    • California Forms of Pleading and Practice – KFC1010.A65 C3, CA Collection 1st Floor, Volume 11 Chapters 112-117A, also available online via Lexis and the LexisNexis Digital Library.

Free Legal Help

General / Police Misconduct:

Community Legal Assistance Saturday Program (CLASP)  Free all-topics telephone legal clinic on the first Saturday of the month.  Volunteer attorneys speak with individuals for 15-20 minutes.  To make an appointment, call the intake line at (510) 485-9933 between 10:00 am – noon on the first Saturday/month and an attorney will call you back later that day.  CLASP Flyer:  (PDF)

American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU)
Provides resources on your rights and pursues high-impact cases to defend civil rights and individual liberties under federal and state law.

Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights of the San Francisco Bay Area
Provides free legal services to low-income Bay Area individuals with various programs such as Police Violence Legal Support

Housing:

Echo Housing  
Free legal counseling, investigation, and mediation related to landlord-tenant matters, such as housing discrimination, fair housing, and landlord and tenant rights and responsibilities.

Bay Area Legal Aid
The Legal Advice Line provides counsel and advice in all languages on a range of civil legal issues. Attorneys may give a caller legal advice, schedule eligible clients for an appointment in a neighborhood office or provide the caller with a helpful referral to other social services organizations, when appropriate.

Employment:

Legal Aid at Work
Legal Aid at Work’s Workers’ Rights Clinic provides low-income and unemployed people with free, confidential information about their legal rights related to work in California.

Hire an Attorney

Bay Area Legal Incubator 
Affordable legal services.  Some attorneys offer sliding scale fees.  In-take form available on website, and you can also read the profiles and get contact information for the BALI attorneys.

    • Address: 125 12th St. Oakland, CA Mezzanine Level
    • Phone:  Visit the website to view BALI attorneys and get individual contact information.
    • Bay Area Legal Incubator Website

ACBA Lawyer Referral Service

California State Bar Attorney Referrals
The California State Bar hosts a certified lawyer referral service search page.  The organizations are certified by the State Bar and can be identified by their State Bar certification number or mark in all advertising.  Certified Lawyer Referral Services in California are managed by a variety of associations, legal service programs, and other organizations.  They operate independently from the State Bar.  Use the link to find certified services in your county.

Employment Law

Guides

US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC)

United States District Court Northern District of California (CAND)

Books

    • California Forms of Pleading and Practice – KFC1010.A65 C3, CA Collection 1st Floor, Volume 11 Chapter 115 Civil Rights: Employment Discrimination, also available online via Lexis and the LexisNexis Digital Library.
    • The essential guide to federal employment laws – KF3455 .C54, Self Help, Stack 108B, also available online via Nolo EBSCO.
    • California practice guide: employment litigation – KFC571 .E4, CA Collection 1st Floor, Chapters 7-10, also available online via Westlaw.
    • Wrongful employment termination practice: discrimination, harassment and retaliation – KFC571 .W76, CA Collection 1st Floor, also available online via OnLAW.

Housing

Guides

State of California Civil Rights Department (CRD) – Housing Discrimination:
This page provides information on what housing discrimination looks like, available remedies, and the complaint process with CRD.

Books

    • The California fair housing encyclopedia: a guide to fair housing practices for owners and managers of residential rental properties in California – KFC145 .C35, CA Collection 1st Floor.
    • California Forms of Pleading and Practice – KFC1010.A65 C3, CA Collection 1st Floor, Volume 11 Chapter 117 Civil Rights: Housing Discrimination, also available online via Lexis and the LexisNexis Digital Library.
    • California Fair Housing & Public Accommodations (The Rutter Group, Civil Litigation Series) – available online via Westlaw.

Police Misconduct

Guides

Books

    • Police Civil Liability, KF1307 .S55, Reference, also available online via the LexisNexis Digital Library.
    • Police misconduct: law and litigation, KF1307 .A98, Federal Practice Active Titles, Stack 107, also available online via Westlaw.
    • Police misconduct: a practitioner’s guide to Section 1983, KF1307 .B46, Federal Practice Active Titles, Stack 107

Updated 4.9.2026

Skills

Posted on

October 7, 2025