POWERFUL, POWERFUL STORY of The CIVIL RIGHTS Era....54 Years later, Friendship 9 : Judge in South Carolina tosses out sit-in convictions for Friendship Nine...."Today is a victory in race relations in America," said Bernice King, daughter of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., said in a news conference following the ruling. "It is a new day."

By Devon M. Sayers and Eliott C. McLaughlin, CNN Updated 1:19 PM ET, Wed January 28, 2015

Rock Hill, South Carolina (CNN)A South Carolina judge on Wednesday threw out the convictions of the Friendship Nine, who were jailed in 1961 after a sit-in protest in Rock Hill, South Carolina, during the civil rights movement.

"Today is a victory in race relations in America," said Bernice King, daughter of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., said in a news conference following the ruling. "It is a new day."

The prosecutor who pushed for this momentous day, 16th Circuit Solicitor Kevin Brackett of Rock Hill, cited King's father when explaining to CNN on Tuesday why he was motivated to take up the cause of the Friendship Nine: "The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends towards justice."

How Friendship Nine ended up back in court

The proceedings began at the Rock Hill Law Center with Municipal Judge Jane Pittman Modla reading from the original court record for each of the men. She asked each of the seven men in attendance -- one has since died, while another had transportation issues -- to stand as their names were called.

"Offense: trespassing. Disposition: guilty. Sentence: $100 or 30 days. Condition: sent to the chain gang," she said for each of them, reading from the 1961 docket. more