Civil-rights leader Bayard Rustin and three other men who were sentenced to work on a chain gang in North Carolina after they launched the first of the freedom rides to challenge Jim Crow laws had their sentences posthumously vacated Friday, more than seven decades later.
During a special session Friday leading up to the weekend celebration of Juneteenth, North Carolina Superior Court Judge Allen Baddour dismissed charges against civil rights leader Bayard Rustin, Andrew Johnson, James Felmet and Igal Roodenko.
Judge Baddour, along with his decision, issued an emotional apology.
“Today’s session is an opportunity for us to make an amends publicly… We failed these men in Orange County, in Chapel Hill,” said Baddour. “We failed their cause and we failed to deliver justice in our community. And for that, I apologize.”
“While this judicial action is taking place 75 years after the injustice occurred, never should we falter in examining past wrongs, seeking reparation, and lifting those heavy burdens from our hearts and minds so that future generations may know justice,” said Renee Price, chairman of the Orange County Board of Commissioners.
