Bid considered to clear Alabama court records of King, Parks

MONTGOMERY, Ala. – The quest by a civilian rights pioneer to person her apprehension grounds wiped cleanable aft astir 70 years aft she protested radical segregation has raised the anticipation of akin bids to wide the names of Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King Jr., whose convictions stay connected the books successful Alabama's capital.

Parks, a Black seamstress and activistic who was convicted of violating radical segregation laws aft refusing to springiness up her autobus spot to a achromatic antheral successful 1955, was convicted of violating radical segregation laws. King, who helped pb the resulting Montgomery Bus Boycott, paid a $500 good aft being convicted successful 1956 of violating a instrumentality banning boycotts.

Parks refused to wage her $10 fine, and she and King went connected to go icons of radical justness and the modern civilian rights movement. Yet their cases stay connected the books successful Montgomery, said civilian rights lawyer Fred Gray, who represented both.

In the lawsuit of King, an up-and-coming pastor astatine the time, efforts to reverse the condemnation successful tribunal failed, Gray said.

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"We mightiness conscionable determine to record a suit connected his behalf to person that grounds expunged," Gray said. The aforesaid goes for Parks and others, potentially, helium said.

The main authoritative successful Alabama's capital, Montgomery County District Attorney Daryl Bailey, said helium would mostly enactment a determination to expunge the apprehension records of King and Parks, but he'd request to spot details of immoderate specified petition earlier responding successful court.

Bailey and Gray spoke connected behalf of Claudette Colvin arsenic she asked a tribunal connected Tuesday to region records stemming her from apprehension and condemnation aft she refused to determination to the backmost of a autobus successful compliance with radical segregation laws successful March 1955 successful Montgomery. Now 82, Colvin was a 15-year-old precocious schoolhouse pupil astatine the time.

“My mindset was connected freedom,” she said aft filing the expungement request, which has yet to beryllium decided.

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An lawyer representing Colvin, Phillip Ensler, said helium would enactment a bid to expunge the tribunal records of different activists from the civilian rights movement. But Colvin, who was convicted of assaulting an serviceman during her apprehension and declared delinquent, isn't definite that specified an effort would beryllium imaginable since determination was truthful overmuch injustice for truthful long.

“That would instrumentality a 100 years, possibly 200 years to spell done the tribunal system,” she said. “You could ne'er decorativeness it.”

Representatives from The King Center successful Atlanta and The Rosa and Raymond Parks Foundation successful Detroit, wherever Parks lived astir of her life, did not instrumentality emails seeking comment.

Hundreds of radical were arrested crossed the South during civilian rights demonstrations successful the 1950s and ‘60s, and it’s unclear however galore would privation to region their apprehension records, which galore spot arsenic a badge of honor. When the metropolis of Birmingham offered wide pardons to radical arrested during protests successful 1963, galore refused.

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Montgomery County Circuit Clerk Gina Ishman said expunging tribunal documents removes convictions from defendants' grounds but mostly does not effect successful the demolition of documents, specified arsenic the humanities constabulary and tribunal records involving radical similar Colvin, King and Parks.

Colvin, who near Alabama for New York astatine property 20, said the condemnation ne'er bothered her much, though her household was disquieted due to the fact that she ne'er received announcement saying her probation had ended. The worst happening astir the ordeal was losing precocious schoolhouse friends implicit her enactment of defiance, she said.

“They didn't privation to beryllium astir me,” said Colvin.

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Reeves is simply a subordinate of the AP’s Race and Ethnicity team.

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