<P> King was ordered to pay a $500 fine or serve 386 days in jail . He ended up spending two weeks in jail . The move backfired by bringing national attention to the protest . King commented on the arrest by saying: "I was proud of my crime . It was the crime of joining my people in a nonviolent protest against injustice ." </P> <P> Also important during the bus boycott were grass - roots activist groups that helped to catalyze both fund - raising and morale . Groups such as the Club from Nowhere helped to sustain the boycott by finding new ways of raising money and offering support to boycott participants . Many members of these organizations were women and their contributions to the effort have been described by some as essential to the success of the bus boycott . </P> <P> Pressure increased across the country . The related civil suit was heard in federal district court and, on June 4, 1956, the court ruled in Browder v. Gayle (1956) that Alabama's racial segregation laws for buses were unconstitutional . As the state appealed the decision, the boycott continued . The case moved on to the United States Supreme Court . On November 13, 1956, the Supreme Court upheld the district court's ruling, ruling that segregation on public buses and transportation was against the law . </P> <P> The boycott officially ended December 20, 1956, after 381 days . The city passed an ordinance authorizing black bus passengers to sit virtually anywhere they chose on buses . The Montgomery bus boycott resounded far beyond the desegregation of public buses . It stimulated activism and participation from the South in the national Civil Rights Movement and gave King national attention as a rising leader . </P>

When did the supreme court ruled that bus segregation was unconstitutional