Several months before Rosa Parks became one of the faces of the modern civil rights movement, Colvin refused to move to the back of a segregated bus in Alabama. Colvin was also convicted of assaulting a police officer and placed on probation.
However, she never received notice that her term was finished, leading her to ask a Montgomery court to expunge and erase her record, which her lawyer said has cast a shadow over the life of an unsung civil rights figure.
Williams, who said he benefited from Colvin’s actions the day she was arrested, was more than happy to assist in clearing Colvin’s name.
“When she did this in 1955, there were no African American judges in Montgomery. And now, I’m one of several African American judges in Montgomery. And so, the remarkable thing is that I sit in a position to look and do something judicious in a judicious way to correct an injustice that was perpetrated against her so long ago that never should have happened,” Williams told CBS.
“That’s the uniqueness of this whole circumstance. That she stood up for right, and now I’m the beneficiary and byproduct of that and I can correct the wrong that was done to her. That’s the significance of it.”
Colvin expressed nothing but jubilation after learning of the ruling, telling Williams she wanted to ensure Black children aren’t treated unfairly. Williams replied “Thanks to you they won’t. They will be treated fairly.”