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United States Supreme Court
Clarence Gideon was charged in Florida with breaking and entering a poolroom. He maintained that he
was innocent and went to trial, but he could not afford a lawyer and the court rejected his request for
one. He conducted his defense "about as well as could be expected from a layman," including
interviewing witnesses and making statements. However, he was convicted by a jury and sentenced to five
years in prison. While in prison he used the library to prepare a handwritten petition for habeas corpus,
and in 1962 the Supreme Court agreed to hear the case.
Would you want to stake your own freedom on your ability to select jurors, examine evidence, crossexamine
witnesses, and address the jury? Should people have to represent themselves just because they are poor?
Is everyone entitled to an attorney? These are the questions the Supreme Court asked to determine whether
the right to counsel is one of the fundamental rights arising out of the Sixth Amendment that is protected
by the Fourteenth Amendment. The court decided unanimously that poor people accused of felonies
are entitled to have attorneys provided for them, and that attorneys are necessities in the criminal justice
system, not luxuries. The court reasoned that the state spends lots of money to hire lawyers who investigate
and prosecute, and that wealthy defendants hire the best attorneys they can afford. The constitutional
guarantee of a fair trial is impossible if only the state and the wealthy can afford competent counsel.
With this decision Chief Justice Earl Warren’s Supreme Court took the initiative in guaranteeing the rights
of defendants, especially the poor and juveniles, who had often lacked representation in the past. Some
critics say we have returned to pre-Gideon days, that the justice system favors the rich who can hire
attorneys and stretch out the system, while the poor are either plea-bargained into jail or stuck with
an overworked public defender. Do you think the intent of the Gideon decision is carried out in
our legal system today? What else could or should be done to guarantee all American citizens a fair trial?
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