A civil right is an enforceable right or privilege, which if interfered with by another gives rise to an action for injury. Examples of civil rights are freedom of speech, press, and assembly; the right to vote; freedom from involuntary servitude; and the right to equality in public places. Discrimination occurs when the civil rights of an individual are denied or interfered with because of their membership in a particular group or class. Statutes have been enacted to prevent discrimination based on race, sex, religion, age, previous condition of servitude, physical limitation, national origin, and in some instances sexual preference. Civil rights attorneys handle cases involving the rights of individuals to be free from unequal treatment (or discrimination) based on legally-protected characteristics such as race, gender, disability, national origin, age, sexual orientation, and religion. Civil rights cases can arise in a number of settings -- including employment, housing, lending, and education.
Upper Marlboro is a town in and the county seat of Prince George's County, Maryland, United States. The live-in population of the town core proper was only 648 at the 2000 census, although Greater Upper Marlboro is many times larger. Although the area has many rural, pastoral features, including horse farms, it is surrounded by encroaching housing developments and is the daytime county seat of Prince George's County, a large urban and suburban area of some 850,000 people adjacent to Washington, D.C. U.S. Highway 301 and Maryland Route 4 intersect at the edge of town. Major features of the town include the courthouse, jail, county office building, board of education, and a lake with walking path. Just to the south of town is the Prince George's Equestrian Center which is the location of the annual county fair, a major annual antiques show and the Show Place Arena on the former Marlboro racetrack grounds. This arena is used for events such as hockey games, circuses, rodeos, conventions, trade shows, and graduation ceremonies of many regional high schools, as well as daily overflow parking for county governmental employees, jurors, and visitors. In earlier times the town was a tobacco auction market, before tobacco farming nearly disappeared in Maryland. On November 3, 2004, a major fire badly damaged the roof and interior of the court house. Except for supermarkets, an Amish market, car dealers, and a Home Depot, all outside of town, the town and surrounding area have only minimal shopping; therefore, residents must travel to Bowie, Clinton, Brandywine, Waldorf, or Forestville to find department stores. Upper Marlboro is convenient to employees commuting to locations along Maryland Route 4 or US Route 301, such as Andrews Air Force Base and the Federal Census Bureau. The Town of Upper Marlboro is often mistaken for the unincorporated census-designated place of Greater Upper Marlboro, which surrounds the town with a population of nearly 20,000 in an area of 77 square miles (as designated by the post office).