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.
Shubuta is a town in Clarke County, Mississippi, United States. Shubuta was incorporated in 1865. Although Shubuta had become a trading post community in and around the 1830s, it was not until the Treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek was signed that the area was available for settlement by European Americans. Shubuta started growing more rapidly when the railroad came through in the 1850s. It was at one time the largest town between Meridian and Mobile, with people coming from forty miles around to shop at the many mercantile businesses. The first record of the word Shubuta appears on Bernard Roman's Map of 1772, a copy of which appears in Riley's History of Mississippi. Riley wrote the name as "Chobuta", which means smoky water in the Choctaw language. The first newspaper in the area was the Mississippi Messenger, established by Judge Charles A. Stovall in 1879. The population was 651 at the 2000 census.