Listing of self-help materials and informational publications.
There are 26 resources
Civil rights
Frequently Asked Questions - Civil Rights Division
(Separate Website)
Frequently asked questions and answers about many topics such as employment and housing discrimination, disability rights, civil rights appeals, educational opportunities and voting rights.
By: U.S. Department of Justice - Civil Rights Division
Know Your Rights When Encountering Law Enforcement
(Separate Website)
This booklet addresses what rights you have when you are stopped, questioned, arrested, or searched by law enforcement officers. This booklet is for citizens and non-citizens with extra information for non-citizens in a separate section. Another section covers what can happen to you at airports and other points of entry into the United States. The last section discusses concerns you may have related to your charitable contributions and religious or political beliefs.
By: ACLU
Know Your Rights: What to do When You're Questioned or Searched By Government Officials
(Separate Website)
If any governmental official (police officer, FBI agent, IMMIGRATION official) wishes to engage you in conversation, all persons, citizens and non-citizens, have the constitutional right to remain silent and request a lawyer.
By: Northwest Immigrant Rights Project
Read this in:
Spanish / Español
Street Speech: Your Rights in Washington to Parade, Picket and Leaflet
(Separate Website)
This pamphlet provides general information about your right to parade, picket, leaflet, circulate petitions and otherwise express your political beliefs in public. It describes the kinds of regulations on speech activities that the government may enforce and the kinds of restrictions which are not permitted by the United States and Washington Constitutions.
By: ACLU
Voting Rights Restoration in Washington State
(Separate Website)
The Washington legislature recently passed
a law that automatically restores the right
to vote to individuals convicted of felonies
when they have completed their time in prison and have served any required community custody supervised by the State Department of Corrections. This law took effect on July 26, 2009.
By: ACLU
Read this in:
Spanish / Español
Disability Rights Washington
(Separate Website)
Disability Rights Washington (DRW) is a private, non-profit organization that protects the rights of people with disabilities statewide.
By: Disability Rights Washington
DSHS Help for People with Disabilities: Necessary Supplemental Accomodations
If you get DSHS benefits, such as TANF, SFA, Disability Lifeline, Medicaid, or food assistance, DSHS must accommodate your disabilities. This means that DSHS must try to make their services and benefits available to you to the same extent that they are available to people without a disability.
By: Northwest Justice Project
Other Formats:
PDF File
Information for Persons with Disabilities Who Need Accommodations to Access the Courts If you have a disability and you believe you may need an accommodation to fully and equally participate in a particular court proceeding or activity, you may request a reasonable accommodation. This resource contains the new Request for Reasonable Accomodation Form and instructions for filing it out.
By: Administrative Office Of The Courts
ADA Paratransit Eligibility: How to Make Your Case
(Separate Website)
The purpose of this handout is to assist people with disabilities to obtain an accurate and fair ADA paratransit eligibility determination. Many people with disabilities who should be eligible for paratransit services according to the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) are denied eligibility because transit agencies are not accurately assessing their capacities.
By: Disability Rights Education & Defense Fund
Eligibility for Paratransit Services
(Separate Website)
The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) requires that all public organizations that provide public transportation must also provide "paratransit." The prefix "para" means "closely resembling" or "alongside of," thus the term paratransit means transit that closely resembles, or operates in combination with an existing transit system.
By: Disability Rights Washington
The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990
(Separate Website)
The complete text of the 1990 Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).
Facts about the Americans with Disabilities Act
(Separate Website)
Title I of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, which took effect July 26, 1992, prohibits private employers, state and local governments, employment agencies and labor unions from discriminating against qualified individuals with disabilities in job application procedures, hiring, firing, advancement, compensation, job training, and other terms, conditions and privileges of employment.
By: Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
Guide to Disability and WA State Nondiscrimination Laws
(Separate Website)
In Washington State, there have been significant changes to disability law from July 2006 to July 2007. On July 6, 2006, in McClarty v. Totem Electric, 157 Wn.2d 214 (2006), the Supreme Court of the State of Washington, in a 5- 4 ruling, adopted the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) definition of disability. In doing so, the Court dispensed with its earlier decisions regarding the definition of disability, as well as with the Washington Administrative Code (WAC) regulation that had successfully served as the Washington State Human Rights Commission?s (WSHRC) definition of disability since 1973.
By: WA State Human Rights Commission
Discrimination in Housing Sales and Rentals
(Separate Website)
The federal Fair Housing Act (FHA) and Washington's Law Against Discrimination prohibit discrimination against people with disabilities in the sale or rental of any dwelling. The FHA also prohibits discrimination against the family of a person with a disability.
By: Disability Rights Washington
Employment Discrimination
(Separate Website)
Despite federal, state, and local laws requiring fair employment practices, many women
continue to face discrimination in the workplace. When this happens, it is often hard to
figure out exactly what your rights are. This memo is intended to be a road map to job
discrimination laws. It outlines the laws that prohibit employment discrimination, what
legal remedies exist, and where to go if you feel you have experienced job discrimination. (PDF file)
By: Legal Voice
Read this in:
Spanish / Español
Filing a Charge of Employment Discrimination
(Separate Website)
Any individual who believes that his or her employment rights have been violated may file a charge of discrimination with EEOC. This web page describes how.
By: U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
Housing Discrimination & Your Civil Rights: A Fair Housing Guide for Renters and Home Buyers
(Separate Website)
Describes what housing discrimination is and what you can do if it happens to you.
By: King County Office of Civil Rights
Read this in:
Cambodian / Khmer
,
Chinese / 中文
,
Russian / Pусский
,
Spanish / Español
,
Vietnamese / Tiếng Việt
How to File a Complaint
(Separate Website)
Describes the procedure for filing a discrimination complaint in the city of Seattle.
By: Seattle Office of Civil Rights
Sexual Harassment in the Workplace General information about the what sexual harassment is and what you can do about it. (PDF file)
By: Northwest Women's Law Center
What's Illegal Discrimination?
(Separate Website)
This web page describes what constitutes illegal discrimination.
By: Seattle Office of Civil Rights
Where to File a Housing Discrimination Complaint
(Separate Website)
The web page tells you which agency to call to file a complaint.
By: King County
Workplace Fairness Web Site
(Separate Website)
A comprehensive web site explaining employment rights.
By: Workplace Fairness
Your Rights and Responsibilities as an Employee in Washington State This 16 page publication provides general information about employment rights in Washington state.
By: Northwest Justice Project
Frequently Asked Questions about Institutionalized Persons' Rights
(Separate Website)
Frequently asked questions and answers about institutionalized persons rights, filing complaints, and the Civil Rights of Institutionalized Persons Act.
By: U.S. Department of Justice - Civil Rights Division
Prisoner's Rights - ACLU Position Paper
(Separate Website)
General information about prisoner's rights and The Prison Litigation Reform Act.
By: American Civil Liberties Union
Adobe Acrobat Reader required. (If you are using a screen reader that does not support PDF format, copy the PDF link, and use the Access Adobe online form to convert this file to HMTL text.)
Information, Not Legal Advice. We are providing this information as a public service. We try to make it accurate as of the date noted in the materials. Sometimes the laws change. We cannot promise that this information is always up-to-date and correct. Most of the information provided on this web site is specific to Washington State law.
We do not intend this information to be legal advice. By providing this information, we are not acting as your lawyer. If you need legal advice, you should contact a lawyer through your local legal aid organization. Always talk to a competent lawyer, if you can, before taking legal action.
Permission for copying and distribution granted to the Alliance for Equal Justice and individuals for non-commercial use only.
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(Separate Website)
