Gideon v. Wainwright (1963) was a historically important case that embodied Justice Hugo Black's argument that the Bill of Rights guarantees everyone protection from the state governments. This case set the standard for constitutional law for the future, forcing states to provide the rights of legal attorneys and representation, even for the poor.
It all began when Clarence Earl Gideon was charged in the Florida state court for committing the felony of breaking and entering. He was a man who had been previously spent time in and out of prison for other nonviolent crimes. At the court, he asked for an attorney, as he could not afford one himself. However, the judge denied this request, so Gideon had to represent himself in court. He cross-examined the prosecution's witnesses, presented witnesses in his own defense, and made arguments in attempts to prove his innocence. Despite these hard-fought efforts, the jury still sentenced him to five years of imprisonment.
Gideon was determined to continue fighting, so he filed a handwritten petition in the Supreme Court, in which he asked the court to resolve the question of whether the right to counsel guaranteed under the Sixth Amendment of the Constitution applies to defendants in state court. The Supreme Court agreed to hear the case.
The Supreme Court held, through a unanimous opinion authored by Black himself, that it was consistent with the Constitution to require state courts to appoint attorneys for defendants who could not afford to retain counsel on their own. The reason for this was that the Sixth Amendment's fundamental right to counsel was required of the states by the Fourteenth Amendment. Therefore, by the Sixth Amendment, courts had to provide counsel for defendants unable to hire counsel themselves.
Sources:
https://www.oyez.org/cases/1962/155
https://www.uscourts.gov/educational-resources/educational-activities/facts-and-case-summary-gideon-v-wainwright
After reading your post I was interested to know why Gideon was originally denied representation. I learned that Florida law only required representation for poor defendants charged with capital offensives. This case took an important step in allowing everybody, even poor people, the right to a fair trial.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.uscourts.gov/educational-resources/educational-activities/facts-and-case-summary-gideon-v-wainwright
Great job on your blog post! I liked reading about the case and how the Supreme Court began to require representation or legal counsel through the Sixth Amendment. To add to your explanation of Clarence Earl Gideon, he was accused of committing a robbery and was a poor drifter, meaning he moved around a lot.
ReplyDeletesource - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clarence_Earl_Gideon
I really liked this blog post because it shows us how some our fundamental rights were bestowed upon us. It turns out that Gideon had lived rough life. He was constantly on the move and had a poor education. That is why he turned to robbery. But lucky for him once the Supreme Court made the decision he was given a new trial. As a bonus, his lawyer was able to persuade the court that he was not guilty.
ReplyDeletehttps://historicmissourians.shsmo.org/historicmissourians/name/g/gideon/