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Edwards v. South Carolina

Significance, Uncodified Breach Of Peace Crime Held Not A "time, Place, And Manner" Restriction



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 peace.

Further Readings

  • African Americans and the Living Constitution. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1995.
  • Bell, Derrick A. Race, Racism, and American Law, 2nd ed. Boston: Little, Brown, 1980.
  • Worton, Stanley N. Freedom of Assembly and Petition. Rochelle Park, NJ: Hayden Book Co, 1975.

Additional topics

Law Library - American Law and Legal InformationNotable Trials and Court Cases - 1963 to 1972