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Her case, Irene Morgan v. Commonwealth of Virginia, was argued by Thurgood Marshall of the NAACP, later a Supreme Court Justice himself, and resulted in a landmark ruling in 1946 which struck down state laws requiring segregation in situations involved interstate transportation. Marshall used an innovative strategy to argue the case. Instead of relying upon the Equal Protection clause of the 14th Amendment, Marshall argued successfully that segregation on interstate travel violated the Interstate Commerce Clause of the Constitution.
Despite the successful ruling, Southern states refused to obey Irene Morgan v. Virginia. Morgan's case helped inspire the first Freedom Rides, during which 16 Civil Rights activists rode on interstate buses and trains to challenge the South's defiance of the Supreme Court. The 16 activists were black and white members of the Committee on Racial Equality (CORE) , and the Fellowship of Reconcilliation (FOR) . The travels were called the " Journey of Reconciliation ". They lasted for two weeks and resulted in twelve arrests.