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Edwards v. South Carolina, 372 U.S. 229 (1963)
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General SummaryThis case is from a collection containing the full text of over 16,000 Supreme Court cases from 1793 to the present. The body of Supreme Court decisions are, effectively, the final interpretation of the Constitution. Only an amendment to the Constitution can permanently overturn an interpretation and this has happened only four times in American history.
Edwards v. South Carolina, 372 U.S. 229 (1963)
Edwards v. South Carolina No. 86 Argued December 13, 1962 Decided February 25, 1963 372 U.S. 229
CERTIORARI TO THE SUPREME COURT OF SOUTH CAROLINA
Syllabus
Feeling aggrieved by laws of South Carolina which allegedly "prohibited Negro privileges," petitioners, 187 Negro high school and college students, peacefully assembled at the site of the State Government and there peacefully expressed their grievances "to the citizens of South Carolina, along with the Legislative Bodies of South Carolina." When told by police officials that they must disperse within 15 minutes on pain of arrest, they failed to do so, and sang patriotic and religious songs after one of their leaders had delivered a "religious harangue." There was no violence or threat of violence on their part or on the part of any member of the crowd watching them, but petitioners were arrested and convicted of the common law crime of breach of the peace, which the State Supreme Court said "is not susceptible of exact definition."
Held: In arresting, convicting and punishing petitioners under the circumstances disclosed by this record, South Carolina infringed their rights of free speech, free assembly and freedom to petition for a redress of grievances -- rights guaranteed by the First Amendment and protected by the Fourteenth Amendment from invasion by the States. Pp. 229-238.
239 S.C. 339, 123 S.E.2d 247, reversed.
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Chicago: U.S. Supreme Court, "Syllabus," Edwards v. South Carolina, 372 U.S. 229 (1963) in 372 U.S. 229 Original Sources, accessed November 24, 2024, http://originalsources.com/Document.aspx?DocID=UI5NQ9CTGUP9BXI.
MLA: U.S. Supreme Court. "Syllabus." Edwards v. South Carolina, 372 U.S. 229 (1963), in 372 U.S. 229, Original Sources. 24 Nov. 2024. http://originalsources.com/Document.aspx?DocID=UI5NQ9CTGUP9BXI.
Harvard: U.S. Supreme Court, 'Syllabus' in Edwards v. South Carolina, 372 U.S. 229 (1963). cited in 1963, 372 U.S. 229. Original Sources, retrieved 24 November 2024, from http://originalsources.com/Document.aspx?DocID=UI5NQ9CTGUP9BXI.
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