The Free Petition Clause extends to the states through the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. Decided February 25, 1963 (argued December 13, 1962). Opinion of the Court: Potter Stewart → go there Dissenting: Clark. Applied: the First Amendment → go there Applied: the Fourteenth Amendment → go there Topic: Freedom of petition. Edwards v. South Carolina, 372 U.S. 229 (1963), is a landmark decision of the US Supreme Court ruling that the First and Fourteenth Amendments to the U.S. Constitution forbade state government officials to force a crowd to disperse when they are otherwise legally marching in front of a state house. Wiki link