Edwards v. South Carolina’s Empirical Analysis
1963
Citation profile
588 federal appellate · 107 district · 467 state decisions
How this case has been cited
Cited by 1,833 later decisions (203 by the Supreme Court) — most recently March 2024 · most notably In the Matter of Samuel Winship (1970), Gideon v. Wainwright (1963)
588 federal appellate · 107 district · 467 state decisions — followed in 36 states
Later decisions citing this case, by decade. The current decade is in progress, and our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so the latest bars are undercounted — not a real decline.
Relationships
Relies on Cantwell v. State of Connecticut · Hague v. Committee for Industrial Organization · Chaplinsky v. State of New Hampshire · Thornhill v. Alabama · Schneider v. State
Cited together with Cox v. State of Louisiana · Terminiello v. Chicago · Cantwell v. State of Connecticut · New York Times Co. v. Sullivan · Adderley v. Florida
Most-quoted passages
The sentences later courts lift from this opinion, ranked by how many decisions quote each — the parts of the opinion doing the work. These counts are smaller than the citation total above because most of the 1,833 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.
“must 'make an independent examination of the whole record,' ... so as to assure [themselves] that the judgment does not constitute a forbidden intrusion on the field of free expression.”
17 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majority“[A] function of free speech under our system of government is to invite dispute. It may indeed best serve its high purpose when it induces a condition of unrest, creates dissatisfaction with conditions as they are, or even stirs people to anger. Speech is often provocative and challenging. It may strike at prejudices and preconceptions and have profound unsettling effects as it presses for acceptance of an idea.”
14 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majority“[t]he petitioners felt aggrieved by laws of South Carolina which allegedly `prohibited Negro privileges in this State.' They peaceably assembled at the site of the State Government and there peaceably expressed their grievances `to the citizens of South Carolina, along with the Legislative Bodies of South Carolina.'”
12 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the majority
How this case has been treated — in progress
Whether each later court followed, distinguished, criticized, or overruled this decision. The treatment classification (task #35) runs highest-cited cases first and lights up here as it reaches this one.