Famed Civil Rights Protesters To Have Arrest Records Erased

COLUMBIA, S.C. – Nine black men arrested for integrating a whites-only South Carolina lunch counter 54 years ago may be heroes in the historic record, but in the record of the law they are still convicted trespassers. That criminal record will soon be erased. On Wednesday, a prosecutor is expected to ask a judge to vacate the arrests and convictions of the men known as the Friendship Nine. The men say that brings a sense of relief as well as a feeling of hope as they look toward the future. Willie McCleod, Robert McCullough, W.T.