The South: Muted Voice

Last week, for the first time, the U.S. Supreme Court spoke on the subject of Negro sit-ins at Southern lunch counters. But the court's voice was muted. All nine justices agreed to set aside the 1960 convictions of 16 Negro college students arrested while trying to break the segregation barrier in Baton Rouge eateries. The court's opinion, written by Chief Justice Earl Warren, dealt only with the fact that there had been no evidence that the students were guilty, as charged, of having violated a Louisiana disturbing-the-peace statute that prohibits anyone from acting "in such manner as to unreasonably...