Edwards v. South Carolina

Edwards v. South Carolina
Argued December 13, 1962
Decided February 25, 1963
Full case nameEdwards, et al. v. South Carolina
Citations372 U.S. 229 (more)
83 S. Ct. 680; 9 L. Ed. 2d 697
Case history
Prior239 S.C. 339, 123 S.E.2d 247 (1961), reversed.
Holding
State governments must protect First Amendment rights through the Fourteenth Amendment.
Court membership
Chief Justice
Earl Warren
Associate Justices
Hugo Black · William O. Douglas
Tom C. Clark · John M. Harlan II
William J. Brennan Jr. · Potter Stewart
Byron White · Arthur Goldberg
Case opinions
MajorityStewart, joined by Warren, Black, Douglas, Harlan, Brennan, White, Goldberg
DissentClark
Laws applied
U.S. Const. amend. I, XIV
Edwards vs. South Carolina monument, Columbia, SC

Edwards v. South Carolina, 372 U.S. 229 (1963), was a landmark decision of the US Supreme Court ruling that the First 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.