According to Halperin, there is, during wartime and times of crisis, frequently an untoward erosion of basic civil rights.

CENTERFORSECURITYPOLICY: The Case Against the Halperin Nomination �� First Edition

It would certainly help if basic civil rights were better enforced.

CNN: MAPPING A SOCIAL SCOURGE

"This is a very basic consumer-protection law and it is also a very basic civil-rights law, " said Mr. Mintz.

WSJ: City Hits Sex-Based Pricing

It calls for basic civil and political rights of individuals, including freedom of religion, freedom of speech and freedom of assembly.

BBC: China open letter calls for political reforms

"There is a block on the Supreme Court, that I think would be confirmed if we are not successful in this election with Vice President Gore and Senator Lieberman, who want to drastically restrict the ability of the federal government to protect and promote the civil rights and human rights and basic needs of the American people, " Clinton said.

CNN: Clinton works the phones, media to get out the vote

For more than two decades, our country has upheld those basic promises for persons with disabilities through the Americans with Disabilities Act -- a sweeping civil rights bill that moved our Nation forward in the journey to equality for all.

WHITEHOUSE: The White House

If the right to -- if the opportunity to enjoy the same rights, same-sex couples or straight couples or whatever, is a basic civil right, how can you square that with saying we leave it up to the states?

WHITEHOUSE: Press Briefing

The struggle to make the provision of basic education in the United States more equitable has been an important domestic political issue since the civil rights and anti-poverty movements of the 1960s, and it was reinforced by a school finance reform movement that emerged in the early 1970s.

UNESCO: II Part Analytic Section

Since the governor's tax plans for teachers were unveiled last month, the state's school system has been placed under scrutiny after a civil rights' group filed a lawsuit claiming that the state was failing to provide the basic provisions of education.

BBC: Teachers reject tax exemption