12 months after Rosa held onto her seat, the Supreme COURT struck down Montgomery bus rule 
Separate seating by race on the Montgomery buses did not end until 382 days after Rosa Parks had her day (and lost) at city court.
A federal court order from SCOTUS overturning the local ordinances reached Montgomery December 20, 1956 – more than a year after Parks held onto her seat. Finally on that day, the longrunning boycott of Montgomery buses was called off, and black and white people could begin to sit in the same row on a city bus.
The defiance of Rosa Parks and 4 other women set off a yearlong rancorous legal battle that wound its way to the US Supreme Court.
At the end of a year of civil disobedience in Montgomery, the Supreme Court struck down the city's segregated bus law. The case was Browder v. Gayle, named for plaintiff Aurelia Browder and for the defendant, Montgomery's mayor WA Gayle.
Here's some activist court history to contemplate as Bush nominates a judge who "isn't an activist" and Rosa Parks is laid to rest this week.
Parks was arrested by the city of Montgomery for defying a local ordinance that required her to give up her seat for a white man riding her bus.
On December 5, 1955 (5 days after her arrest), Rosa Parks lost in her plea at court.
On February 1, 1956 a suit was filed for 4 women, Aurelia Browder, Susie McDonald, Claudette Colvin and Mary L. Smith to fight Montgomery's bus segregation. They were arrested also in 1955 for sitting in the wrong section of the bus.
As the boycott continued the white community fought back with terrorism and harassment. The car-pool drivers were arrested for picking up hitchhikers. African-Americans waiting on street corners for a ride were arrested for loitering.On January 30, 1956 Dr. King's home was bombed. His wife and their baby daughter escaped without injury. When Dr. King arrived home he found an angry mob waiting. . . .
The boycott continued for over a year. It eventually took the United States Supreme Court to end the boycott. On November 13, 1956 the Court declared that Alabama's state and local laws requiring segregation on buses were illegal.
The first activist court to rule the city's segregation code unlawful was a US district court in June.
On November 13, 1956, the US Supreme Court upheld a lower court decision to strike down the Montgomery law because it deprived "Negro citizens" of 14th amendment equal protection and due process.
The boycott lasted 381 days, and in that period, many blacks were harassed and arrested on flimsy charges.Finally, on Nov. 13, 1956, in the case of Browder vs. Gayle, the U.S. Supreme Court outlawed segregation on the city's buses. The court order arrived in Montgomery on Dec. 20; the boycott ended the next day.
More on the court case and testimony can be found here.
In my view -- Rosa Parks did not end bus segregation; she took a stand. The Supreme Court put a stop to it when it struck down the law.
An activist court bucked the local legislators and the majority citizenry of the state to end segregation.
Rosa Parks lies in state to be honored Monday morning 10:00 am to noon.
There's a memorial service at Metropolitan AME Church, 1518 M St. NW in D.C. Monday at 1:00.
You might bring a sign: "Parks launched a court case, activist Supreme Court outlawed Montgomery bus laws - 1956"
There can be no finer tribute to her cause.
Postscript. Even after this ruling, more bus seat segregation battles, similar to Montgomery's, had to be continually fought for other locales — in the courtroom.
KEYWORDS: activist judges, Rosa Parks
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