Baton Rouge Sit-Ins

Baton Rouge Sit-Ins. Making Rights Real. , In 1960, Southern University students were arrested and expelled from the university for staging sit-ins at lunch counters at Kress Department Store, Greyhound Bus Station and Sitman's Drug Store in downtown Baton Rouge. The arrest and expulsion of the students led to students boycotting classes and marching from the university to the State Capitol. Garner v Louisiana, a landmark case, argued before the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the students' arrest and ruled that Louisiana could not convict peaceful sit-in protesters who refused to leave dining establishments under the state's disturbing the peace laws. The students' protests are credited with spurring desegregation, but it took until 1963 for Baton Rouge's downtown lunch counters to be desegregated.