''Edwards v. South Carolina'', 372 U.S. 229 (1963), was a
landmark decision of the
US Supreme Court
The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point of ...
ruling that the
First
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and
Fourteenth Amendments to the U.S. Constitution forbade state government officials to force a crowd to disperse when they are otherwise legally marching in front of a state house.
Background
The 187 petitioners consisted of African-American high school and college students who peacefully assembled at the Zion Baptist Church in
Columbia, South Carolina
Columbia is the List of capitals in the United States, capital of the U.S. state of South Carolina. With a population of 136,632 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is List of municipalities in South Carolina, the second-largest ...
on March 2, 1961. The students marched in separate groups of roughly 15 to South Carolina State House grounds to peacefully express their grievances regarding civil rights of African-Americans.
The crowd of petitioners did not engage in any violent conduct and did not threaten violence in any manner, nor did crowds gathering to witness the demonstration engage in any such behavior. Petitioners were told by police officials that they must disperse within 15 minutes or face arrest. The petitioners failed to disperse, opting to sing religious and patriotic songs instead. Petitioners were convicted of the common law crime of
breach of the peace
Breach of the peace, or disturbing the peace, is a legal term used in constitutional law in English-speaking countries and in a public order sense in the several jurisdictions of the United Kingdom. It is a form of disorderly conduct.
Public ord ...
.
Outcome
The Supreme Court held that in arresting, convicting and punishing the petitioners, South Carolina infringed on the petitioners' rights of free speech, free assembly and freedom to petition for a redress of grievances. The Court stated that these rights are guaranteed by the First Amendment and protected by the Fourteenth Amendment from invasion by the States.
The Supreme Court argued the arrests and convictions of 187 marchers were an attempt by South Carolina to "make criminal the peaceful expression of unpopular views" where the marchers' actions were an exercise of First Amendment rights "in their most pristine and classic form." The Court described the common law crime of breach of the peace as "not susceptible of exact definition."
[.]
Clark's dissent
While the majority in Edwards distinguished ''
Feiner v. New York'' (1951), based on the absence of violence or threats from the petitioners' march to the state capital, Justice Clark stated that the breach of the peace convictions upheld in Feiner presented "a situation no more dangerous than that found here." Justice Clark noted that Edwards was more dangerous because Feiner involved one person and was limited to a crowd of about 80, whereas the Edwards demonstration involved around 200 demonstrators and 300 onlookers. He argued that the City Manager's action may have averted a catastrophe because of the "almost spontaneous combustion in some Southern communities in such a situation."
See also
* ''
Brown v. Louisiana''
* ''
Adderley v. Florida''
*
List of United States Supreme Court cases
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List of United States Supreme Court cases, volume 372
References
External links
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First Amendment Library entry for ''Edwards v. South Carolina''{{US1stAmendment, speech, state=expanded
Freedom of assembly
United States Supreme Court cases
United States Supreme Court cases of the Warren Court
United States Free Speech Clause case law
1963 in United States case law
Legal history of South Carolina
History of Columbia, South Carolina
Civil rights movement case law