A prominent North Carolina civil rights attorney has passed away Monday morning after battling an extended illness.
James Ferguson II, who was from Asheville, was best known for his involvement in a landmark Supreme Court ruling in 1970 that required school districts to use busing as a means to desegregate schools.
He was also known for defending the Wilmington 10, a group who was wrongfully convicted of arson and conspiracy following the 1971 school desegregation riots.
Ferguson was 82 years old.