Gideon’S Trumpe Film
The movie “Gideon’s trumpet” tells the story of Clarence Earl Gideon, shows how he was fighting for the right to have publicly funded legal counsel for the needy. This man was of an average intelligence, a four-time loser without a financial support, but very stubborn about what he was doing. The events that described in this movie, remained in the history of the law.
In 1961, when Earl Gideon was fifty one, he was arrested, prosecuted, and sent to the jail for breaking and entering with the intent to commit petty larceny. He was sentenced to five years in state prison. He applied to the Florida Supreme Court for a writ of habeas corpus, but it was rejected. Gideon had some knowledge of the workings of the Supreme Court …show more content…
Gideon requested an attorney be appointed to him. Abe Fortas was appointed to him, with the aim of conducting his case to the Supreme Court, to advocate for overturning the twenty-year-old Betts v. Brady ruling that the state must appoint counsel only in capital cases and under special circumstances. He went on to point out that the Supreme Court's "case-by-case supervision of the state criminal proceedings" as established in Betts v. Brady, went against the ideas of federalism, and that a more absolute ruling was needed. The Supreme Court overlooked many important factors in deciding Gideon vs. Wainwright. This case should have just been an another case decided by the standard that Betts vs. Brady, 316 U.S. 455 set back in 1942. …show more content…
The decision of Gideon, heralded that time, has totally changed the American criminal justice system. Gideon’s mandate has forced prosecutors to be more fair and more honest in their dealings with defendants. As a result, all this led to the more accurate results at trial. However, nowadays there is a great gulf between the broad premise of the ruling and the grim practice of legal representation for the poorest litigants of the nation. For sure you have the right to a court-appointed lawyer today, but with this lawyer, often just like a "potted plant", by your side, you have earned the dubious honor of hearing the judge you will face declare that this arrangement is sufficient to secure your rights to a fair trial. These days, the justices will not secure the basic fair trial rights they themselves recognized in Gideon. Moreover, the elected officials see no political value in spending the money it would take to ensure that every American has an opportunity for equal