Human rights in the United States are legally protected by the Constitution of the United States, including the amendments,, state constitutions, conferred by treaty, and enacted legislatively through Congress, state legislatures, and plebiscites (state referenda). Federal courts in the United States have jurisdiction over international human rights laws as a federal question, arising under international law, which is part of the law of the United States.
Read more about Human Rights In The United States: History, Labor Rights, Health Care, Justice System, International Comparison, Further Assessments, Other Issues
Famous quotes containing the words united states, human, rights, united and/or states:
“We are told to maintain constitutions because they are constitutions, and what is laid down in those constitutions?... Certain great fundamental ideas of right are common to the world, and ... all laws of man’s making which trample on these ideas, are null and void—wrong to obey, right to disobey. The Constitution of the United States recognizes human slavery; and makes the souls of men articles of purchase and of sale.”
—Anna Elizabeth Dickinson (1842–1932)
“Is this testing whether I’m a replicant or a lesbian, Mr. Deckard?”
—David Webb Peoples, U.S. screenwriter, and Ridley Scott. Rachel, Blade Runner, being tested to determine if she is human or machine (1982)
“Is a democracy, such as we know it, the last improvement possible in government? Is it not possible to take a step further towards recognizing and organizing the rights of man?”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“God knows that any man who would seek the presidency of the United States is a fool for his pains. The burden is all but intolerable, and the things that I have to do are just as much as the human spirit can carry.”
—Woodrow Wilson (1856–1924)
“The traveler to the United States will do well ... to prepare himself for the class-consciousness of the natives. This differs from the already familiar English version in being more extreme and based more firmly on the conviction that the class to which the speaker belongs is inherently superior to all others.”
—John Kenneth Galbraith (b. 1908)