Read the summary of the Edwards v. South Carolina
Supreme Court case.
In 1961, a group of African American high school and
college students marched at the State House in
Columbia, South Carolina, to protest segregation. They
carried various signs indicating their opposition to
segregation and walked peacefully in single or double file
without blocking people or cars. After the protest
attracted a curious but peaceful crowd, the police gave
the students 15 minutes to leave. Rather than leave, the
students began chanting and singing religious songs.
The police arrested the students, and 187 were
convicted of disturbing the peace. The Supreme Court
reversed the lower court convictions in an 8-1 decision,
ruling that the students had threatened no harm or
violence and thus their First and Fourteenth Amendment
rights had been violated by their arrests.
What reason did the court give for their view that the
students' rights had been violated?
The police only gave the students 15 minutes to
leave.
O The students were showing their opposition to
segregation.
• The students had not threatened violence or harm to
anyone.
O The marchers were high school and college students.