Home > Great American Court Cases > Edwards v. South Carolina

Legal Citation: 372 U.S. 229 (1963)

Appellant
James Edwards, Jr.

Appellee
State of South Carolina

Appellant's Claim
That the South Carolina common law crime of breach of the peace, as applied to a peaceful march to protest racial discrimination, infringes on the First Amendment guarantee of free speech.

Chief Lawyer for Appellant
Jack Greenberg

Chief Lawyer for Appellee
Lionel R. McLeod

Justices for the Court
Hugo Lafayette Black, William J. Brennan, Jr., William O. Douglas, Arthur Goldberg, John Marshall Harlan II, Potter Stewart, Earl Warren, Byron R. White

Justices Dissenting
Tom C. Clark

Place
Washington, D.C.

Date of Decision
25 February 1963

Decision
The Supreme Court struck down the convictions of the civil rights demonstrators for breach of...