Civil Rights

Congress has created a private cause of action to remedy constitutional violations by officials acting under color of state law.  The rights protected under the Constitution and Bill of Rights include the right to be free from unreasonable searches and seizures, to not be deprived of private property without due process of law, and to not have private property taken by the government without just compensation.  Persons who are injured as a result of a Constitutional violation may generally sue in federal court and, in certain situations, recover monetary damages and other relief.

Chimicles & Tikellis has represented individuals in the following civil rights actions:

• Class actions against prisons that allegedly violate the Fourth and Fourteenth Amendments by subjecting all new commitments to a strip search, regardless of the nature of their arrest or alleged crime.
   
• Class action against the United States government for allegedly violating the Fifth Amendment by continuing to collect an arbitrary tax without providing just compensation or due process of law.