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.
Summit is a city in Union County, New Jersey, United States, and an affluent bedroom community of New York City. At the United States 2000 Census, the city population was 21,131. Summit has the 16th-highest per capita income in the state. What is now the city of Summit was created as Summit Township by an Act of the New Jersey Legislature on March 23, 1869, from portions of New Providence Township and Springfield Township. Summit was reincorporated as a city on March 8, 1899. Beyond the obvious derivation from its position atop the Second Watchung Mountain, other theories have been offered to account for the city's name. The house in which Jurist James Kent lived starting in 1837 called Summit Lodge (today standing at 50 Kent Place Boulevard), and a local sawmill owner who granted passage to the Morris and Essex Railroad for a route required to climb to "the summit of the Short Hills" have both been offered as the source of the city's name.