Black activists cleared in court for 1961 sit-in

Emotional scenes as group is hailed as heroes and judge acts to 'right history'

A group of black civil rights activists was exonerated on Wednesday in the United States, more than 50 years after being condemned to hard labor for sitting in a whites-only area of a restaurant.

A judge in Rock Hill, South Carolina, overturned the convictions of the "Friendship Nine" during a symbolic and at times emotional court session.