EqualJusticeUnderLaw
The famous court case: Gideon v. Wainwright
“If an obscure Florida convict named Clarence Earl Gideon had not sat down in his prison cell… to write a letter to the Supreme Court… the vast machinery of American law would have gone on functioning undisturbed. But Gideon did write that letter, the court did look into his case… and the whole course of American legal history has been changed.” Robert F. Kennedy (Gideon v. Wainwright). When this broke, trouble prone man was sentenced 5 years in prison for stolen change and drinks, he had no lawyer. This was really bad for Gideon because there is a very slim chance he would be considered not guilty without someone defending him. He lost this case and was sent to prison. He wrote
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Gideon really wanted this right because he had spent most of his life in prison without a lot of money. “The Supreme Court agreed with Gideon that he had not been given a fair trial…” (Gideon v. Wainwright) In this quote, it shows you that life's unfair without this case. A lot of people made this happen and 11 of the many people are: Clarence Earl Gideon, Louie L. Wainwright, Earl Warren, Hugo Black, William J. Brennan, Potter Stewart, Bryon White, Arthur Goldberg, William O. Douglas, Tom C. Clark, and John M. Harlan II. The need for this change was huge from all of the unfair trials before …show more content…
Now anyone can get a court appointed counsel. “The right to appointed counsel has been extended to misdemeanor and juvenile proceedings”(The Legacy of Gideon v. Wainwright). “Clarence Earl Gideon was an unlikely hero. He was a man with an eighth-grade education who ran away from home when he was in middle school” (Facts and Case Summary - Gideon v. Wainwright). Gideon gave criminals the right to a fair trial making him a definite hero. His case against Louie L. Wainwright was a very big thing for most people. Even though this case took 2 months and 3 days, it was still a very suspenseful trial for anyone involved. Gideon definitely an unlikely hero because you would not expect an uneducated man to win an intense Supreme Court
The Respondent was Louie L. Wainwright, Director, and Division of Correction. It was decided by Warren Court (1962-1965) and it was argued on January 15, 1963 and finally decided on Mach 18, 1963. Gideon was not your normal teenager as he did not spend much time with friends nor did he seem to care much about
Plaintiff may have been disqualified unwisely but he was not denied equal protection” (Jordan v. City of New London,
He then went on to write to the United States Supreme Court, saying he had been denied counsel and his Sixth Amendment rights had been violated. The United States Supreme Court took his petition, and their decision was announced on March 18, 1963 that they ruled unanimously in favor of Gideon. Due to Gideon’s appeal,numerous other defendants were found to have had their Civil Rights violated. About 2000 individuals that had been convicted were freed in Florida alone as a result of the decision. Gideon’s case had another trial and he was acquitted and went on to resume his previous life.
Gideon v. Wainwright Clark, 1 Gideon v. Wainwright: The Right to Counsel Amber Clark Liberty High School 2A Gideon v. Wainwright was a Supreme Court case involving Clarence Earl Gideon, a man who received felony charges in the state of Florida for breaking and entering to commit a misdemeanor offense. The importance of this case lies in the Constitutional questions it dealt with, such as a citizen?s right to counsel, and the resulting decision that gave the right to counsel to all, at any court level. Gideon?s case was argued on January 15th, 1963.
As the trial came to a close end the jury announced that Clarence Earl Gideon was guilty, and was convicted five years in prison. While being in jail Gideon filed a petition before the Florida Supreme Court declaring that the State of Florida had proclaimed an unfair case trial by denying him his Sixth Amendment the Right to the Assistance of Counsel. The petition sent to the Supreme Court was denied. Next, Gideon did not fall back; he appealed his case to the U.S Supreme Court claiming that putting him on trial without a lawyer was unfair due to the fact that it denied him due process of law against the 14th Amendment. The U.S Supreme Court came to a conclusion to review Gideon’s case, which
Again stated, when Gideon became arrested, he was denied his equal right stated in the fifth amendment. Gideon was brought to trial. When he asked for representation, he was deprived of the right to representation at his trial in the state of Florida. The court did not allow him to get an attorney because it was said that you were only allowed for representation if it was a capital case or if you had a mental defect, and because he didn’t have these qualities he was denied for representation.
Gideon sued Louie L. Wainwright for habeas corpus. The decision was by the Supreme Court under Chief Justice Earl Warren that protected rights of accused criminals and extended the guaranteed the bill of Rights to state actions. Failure of the state to provide counsel for a defendant charged with a felony violated the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. Gideon began a life of crime at a young age.
In 1838, Henry B. Truett was convicted of the murder of Jacob Early. Early (a physician) and Truett became enraged in a political quarrel; a quarrel that was provoked by Truett. His young, inexperienced attorney—who had been practicing law for less than two years—spoke to the jury in a controversial yet engaging tone. The young attorney painted the events that led to the murder of Early in vivid color for the jury. While Truett had provoked Early, Early’s rage grew to such levels Truett felt his life was in imminent danger.
On January 15, 1963, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in Gideon v. Wainwright. Abe Fortas, a Washington, D.C., attorney, and future Supreme Court justice, represented Gideon for free before the high court. He eschewed the safer argument that Gideon was a special case because he had only had an eighth-grade education level. Instead, Fortas asserted that no defendant, however competent or well educated, could provide an adequate self-defense against the state and that the U.S. Constitution ensured legal representation to all defendants charged with felonies. Two months later the court unanimously ruled that the denial of an attorney violated the Fourteenth Amendment, which guarantees due process.
It is well understood in today’s society that every person charged with a crime is entitled to the counsel of an attorney, regardless if the defendant can afford an attorney or not. Prior to the landmark decision of Gideon v Wainwright (1963), indigent defendants charged in state courts were not guaranteed the right to counsel. The Gideon case extended the Sixth Amendment of the United States Constitution’s right to counsel in federal trials, though incorporation by the Fourteenth Amendment, to apply to all states. Justice Black wrote the opinion for the Supreme Court in Gideon and opined that “The right of one charged with a crime to counsel may not be deemed fundamental and essential to fair trials in some countries, but it is in ours” (Gideon
To everybody’s shock, Gideon ended up appealing to the Supreme Court from jail, insisting that his 5th Amendment due process rights and 6th amendment attorney rights had been violated. The Supreme Court took his case and agreed with him, with Attorney General Robert Kennedy in Document 3 going as far as to say that the “whole course of legal history has been changed.” Gideon was able to have his conviction overturned and have a retrial, this time with a lawyer, and was found not guilty. This case shows how important it is to provide convicts with protection in court. They are innocent until proven guilty, and they cannot be tried properly without an attorney.
This case was not just an event in history, but a strong point that supported and still supports equality to this day. People can use this case to help support their reasoning for what they believe in and why certain actions should
Gideon was undoubtedly found guilty of the crime and was sent to prison. While he sat in a Florida prison, Gideon felt that his constitutional right to have an attorney was not granted. Thus, Gideon formulated an appeal to the Supreme Court handwritten on prison paper. The Supreme Court accepted his documents and decided to hear his case. Prior to Gideon vs Wainwright, Betts vs Brady was the case doctrine that was followed.
Wainwright illustrated the importance of personal rights guaranteed by the constitution. This case began when Clarence Gideon was denied a court appointed lawyer to represent him in a petty crime case. Gideon, unable to afford his own lawyer, was unable to adequately defend himself and consequently was convicted. However, he was undeterred. Gideon then wrote a letter to the Supreme Court to overturn this conviction with the 6th Amendment as his evidence of the court’s misconduct.
The justice system has always been the heart of America. But like this country, it has many faults. Prejudice has played a major role in the shaping of this system. In the 1930’s the way a courtroom was set up was completely different from how it looks to day. In the book To Kill A MockingBird, Harper Lee shows just how different it is.