The Supreme Court case Edwards v. South Carolina had a significant impact on civil rights. In this landmark 1963 decision, the Court ruled that the First and Fourteenth Amendments protected the rights of the 187 African-American students who had peacefully protested against racial discrimination at the South Carolina State House grounds. The students had been convicted of breach of the peace by a state magistrate for their peaceful assembly, speech, and petition for a redress of grievances. However, the Supreme Court overturned their convictions, affirming that the students' constitutional rights had been violated by the state officials who had forced the crowd to disperse. This ruling was a victory for the civil rights movement, as it established that the government could not suppress peaceful demonstrations and protests against racial injustice. The Edwards v. South Carolina decision reaffirmed the fundamental freedoms of speech, assembly, and petition, and helped to pave the way for further progress in the ongoing struggle for racial equality and civil rights in the United States.