CIVIL RIGHTS - EQUAL RIGHTS |
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Civil rights are the protections and privileges of personal liberty given to all citizens by law. Civil rights are distinguished from "human rights" or "natural rights"; civil rights are rights that are bestowed by nations on those within their territorial boundaries, while natural or human rights are rights that many scholars claim ought to belong to all people. For example, the philosopher John Locke (1632-1704) argued that the natural rights of life, liberty, and property should be converted into civil rights and protected by the sovereign state as an aspect of the social contract. Others have argued that people acquire rights as an inalienable gift from a god or at a time of nature before governments were formed.
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DAMAGES |
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In law, damages refers either to the harm suffered by a claimant in a civil action, or to the money paid or awarded to the plaintiff in compensation for such harm.
Generally, there are three kinds of damages: special damages, general damages, and punitive damages. Special damages are the enumerable or quantifiable monetary costs or losses suffered by the plaintiff, or the compensation therefore. For example, medical costs, repair or replacement of damaged property, lost wages, lost earning potential, loss of business, loss of irreplaceable items, loss of support, etc. General damages are items of harm or loss suffered, for which only a subjective value may be attached. Examples of this include personal injury, physical or emotional pain and suffering, loss of companionship, loss of consortium, disfigurement, loss of reputation, loss or impairment of mental or physical capacity, loss of enjoyment of life, etc.
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USE OF FORCE |
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The use of force to settle conflicts is much debated in theory and in practice (see moral philosophy, ethics).When a conflict is viewed as being between parties having the same standing, observers often recommend the use of negotiation or other "conflict resolution" techniques. When a conflict is viewed as being between a law-breaker and a law-enforcer, observers tend to side with the enforcer (but with important exceptions). Analysis of conflicts, and of when and where it is legitimate for an involved (or intervening) party to use force to settle it, quickly becomes complicated.
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