...throughout history, one of which is the story of Clarence Earl Gideon. Gideon Petitioned the Supreme Court of the United States of America for a writ of certiorari, founded in his belief that he, a poor man, should have the right to an attorney after he was convicted of robbing a pool house in the early 1960’s. Despite originally being found guilty, Gideon was determined to appeal to the courts and gain his freedom under the premise that his right to due process of law was violated. He created a movement in history that led to the establishment of universal right to counsel within the United States legal system. After a tedious case, that did not look as though it would bode well for Gideon, he was successful in persuading the Supreme Court to accept his appeal....
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...Gideon v. Wainwright, 372 U.S 335, is a turning point case in the United States Court history. Under the fourteen Amendments to the U.S Constitution to provide counsel in criminal cases to the represent defendants who cannot afford to pay their own attorneys. Gideon was charged with a felony in Florida state court. He came into view before the state Court, informing the Court he was indigent and requested that the Court appoint him an attorney. The Court declined to appoint Gideon an attorney, stating that under Florida law, the only time an indigent defendant is entitled to appoint counsel is when he is charged with a capital offense. Therefore, an indigent defendant with an attorney is a violation of the Fourteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution, which Gideon v. Wainwright imposed those requirements upon the states as well....
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...been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the Assistance of Counsel for his defense (U.S. Const. amend. VI). In today’s society, the Supreme Court has decided that the Sixth Amendment also means in federal courts, counsel must be provided for indigent defendants unable to obtain their own attorneys. The Supreme Court has made many decisions shaping the Sixth Amendment into what it is today while keeping it close to its original intent I believe. Some of the influential cases are: Johnson v. Zerbst, Betts v. Brady, Gideon v. Wainwright, Argerisnger v. Hamilton, Faretta v. California, and Strickland v. Washington. I decided to highlight these decisions because I believe they are good examples of how the Sixth Amendment has been interpreted and sculpted to fit in today’s world. Indigent felony defendants in federal court are entitled to court-appointed counsel, decided in 1938 in Johnson v. Zerbst (Neubaur & Fradella, 2014). Then in 1942 we had the Betts v. Brady decision, in that case, the justices had ruled that indigent defendants need only be provided with a lawyer under special circumstances (Summary of the Decision, n.d.). Meaning indigent defendants in noncapital...
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...Historically, what has the right to counsel guaranteed? How did Gideon v. Wainwright change this? Historically, it was customary for individuals to represent themselves during trial. The legal system back then was certainly not the complex web that it is today, so the demand for lawyers was low. The Sixth Amendment right to counsel was considered more of a luxury rather than the fundamental right we consider it to be today. If an individual wanted a lawyer to represent them in court, they would be responsible for finding a lawyer and paying for their services. This classist application of the Sixth Amendment let a lot of people fall through the cracks and “brought about complaints over economic discrimination”. This issue was first addressed...
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...Gideon v. Wainwright (1963) In Gideon v. Wainwright, Clarence Earl Gideon was convicted of breaking and entering into a pool hall, and he was also charged of stealing money and alcohol. At his trial, Gideon did not have the sufficient funds to get an attorney, so he asked the judge if he could be appointed an attorney. Gideon’s request was denied by the judge because according to the Florida law, the only time a attorney could be appointed to someone was for poor defendants who were charged with capital offenses. This is the point where the constitutional issue began. Gideon fended for himself as best as he could but failed and was sent to prison. While serving his time, Gideon insisted that he should have been appointed an attorney, so he did research based on the prison library. After he was well informed he petitioned the Supreme Court arguing that he should have been appointed an attorney but his request was denied. And that was his constitutional issue, people should be appointed an attorney if they cannot afford one even if they are not being charged with a capital offense and he claimed...
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...Clarence Earl Gideon, born August 30,1910 in Missouri. Was the son of Virginia Gregory Gideon and Charles Roscoe Gideon. A little background information about Clarence is that he didn’t finish school, his last completed grade was the 8th grade. He ran away from home at a young age and became homeless, by the time he reached the age of 16 he had a great list of criminal history of nonviolent crimes and was a drifter in and out of the prison throughout his life due to those nonviolent crimes. In 1961 through 1963 was when the trial of Gideon v. Wainwright played out. On the night of June 3,1961 Clarence was seen at a poolroom in Panama City, FL. He was seen breaking and entering according to eye witnesses, said to have stolen money and alcoholic beverages from the area. When he was taken into custody he asked if they could appoint him a lawyer, since he was homeless and couldn’t afford one. The judge denied his request, because in the state of Florida at the time they only appointed lawyers to the poor who had committed capital crimes, and they saw that his crime was a noncapital crime meaning that he didn’t need a lawyer to be appointed to him unless he...
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...is something that has to be guaranteed in most influential country in the world. “Gideon v. Wainwright” has challenged this fairness and changed how the justice and judicial system worked. This court case leaves a remarkable imprint for the future of court rulings and decision making. On August 4th, 1961, a man by the name of Clarence Earl Gideon was convicted of breaking and entering with the intent of committing a misdemeanor. Under Florida law, this was seen as a felony, a pretty serious crime as to go to trial for it. The day of Gideon’s trial, he appeared in court without an attorney. Upon his request for one since he could not afford it, the The trial judge denied his request because under Florida law, the appointment of a representative was only permitted for defendants charged with capital offenses....
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...The Indigent Defender: Gideon versus Wainwright Do you think indigent defendants, or defendants without lawyers should be provided with lawyers in all court cases? Gideon versus Wainwright is a case that will decide if indigent defendants will. The case of whether indigent defendants should be provided with lawyers. There have been many other cases similar to this, like Powell versus Alabama, Palko versus Connecticut, and Betts versus Brady. Indigent defendants should not be provided lawyers in court unless their offense is capital. The case started in 1961 when a homeless man by the name of Clarence Earl Gideon was caught “Breaking and entering into a Panama City, Florida, pool hall and stealing money from the hall's vending machines” (Mcbride). He stole less than one hundred dollars and some...
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...influential supreme court cases like Miranda v. Arizona. The most influential one are ones that put a shift into history. One of the most influential supreme court case are Brown V. Board. In this case segregation was ended. Another Court case is Gideon V. Wainwright. This allows a person how can not afford an attorney or lawyer to be given a lawyer or attorney. The next case TLO V. New Jersey. This allows a student to be searched on school grounds. Although there are many influential court cases there are only a few that stand out the most, Brown V. Board, Gideon V. Wainwright, and TLO V. NEW Jersey. One of the most influential court cases is Brown v. Board. In this case Linda Brown wanted to go to the white school that was...
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...“All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof” meaning that all people are under subjection of due process. Due process is the legal requirement, by state and federal government, to acknowledge the legal rights that a person owns. Since November 10, 2001, due process has changed in the United States wherein enemy combatants do not receive the right to due process anymore. Although America has moved far along since the new due process acts, Bush and Obama have been under constant fire for “obstruction of civil rights”. In the 1963 Supreme Court case of Gideon v. Wainwright, Clarence Earl Gideon was charged with breaking and entering with intent for petty larceny. The offense had occurred between midnight and 8:00AM when a person had broken a door, smashed cigarette machines, and stolen money out of the cash register. Based upon the single accusation of Gideon leaving the store with a bottle of wine and cash at 5:30PM, he was...
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...In 1963, a man named Clarence Earl Gideon was arrested for breaking and entering into a pool hall in Panama City, Florida. His objective was to break into the building’s vending machines to steal money from them. Clarence was a very poor man who ran away from his home at a young age. He had the education of an eighth-grader. Clarence then became a drifter. He committed little crimes in order to gain small amounts of cash here and there. He was often caught and had become a regular in the county jail. Gideon once again found himself in the Florida court house, but this time he was in danger of up to a five-year jail sentence. Clarence was too poor to afford an attorney, and was never granted one. He had to handle every aspect of his trial all...
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...What is the importance of the United States Supreme Court in American Government? The United States Supreme Court in American is the highest judicial body. The United States is form by 9 judges. It is only the Constitutional stipulate the Court. The Supreme Court also has judicial review. There is a landmark Supreme Court case below. (Information is from Wikipedia) Gideon v. Wainwright, it was occur in 1963, is a landmark case in United States Supreme Court history. In this case, the Supreme Court judges unanimously ruled that the state court should provide the lawyer for the people couldn’t pay the lawyer fee. The background of the case： Between midnight and 8:00 a.m. on June 3, 1961, a burglary occurred at the Bay Harbor Pool Room in Panama City, Florida. An unknown person broke a door, smashed a cigarette machine and a record player, and stole money from a cash register....
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...Md. Musa Shifullah Professor Porter Introduction to legal process Course code-126 Mandatory Response paper (two) about the Supreme Court case decision for Gideon v. Wainwright The plaintiff Gideon been accused by the State Court of Florida for committing felony. The hearings commenced, and Gideon requested for a defense lawyer to be appointed by the State of Florida, on account of the law that he has the right to get state-appointed counsel as he is indigent. However, this request had been declined by the state Court, as they said that indigent defendants have the right to appointed counsels only when they have been accused of a capital offense. It was held that the right to be represented by a counsel was a right fundamental to having a...
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...of capital punishment, and eighth amendment protection inside prison walls. Barron V. Baltimore (1833),...
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...property that was preserved in Fifth and fourteenth amendments of the United States constitution. In simple words it states that any person who is accused of crime will be guaranteed a fair and unbiased trail in order to prove their innocence. Due process of law is again divided in to Procedural due process of law states that government must use fair proceedings and Substantial due process states that the laws under which the government acts must be constitutional. According to George, (1989), some of the protections under procedural due process are rights against unreasonable searches and seizures, rights against double jeopardy, rights against self incrimination, right to fair trail, right to counsel and right to jury trail in the civil cases. Substantial due process is often used to overthrow government actions when it interferes with individual freedom when no more specific constitutional argument can be found. Marriage and abortion laws come under substantial due process for the people of United States. The notion of Substantial due process flourished during the Franklin Roosevelt’s administration and finally abandoned by the late 1930’s (p. 89-97). Due process of law has its origins dated back to 1354 A.D during the reign of Edward III of England. Due process was included under 39 clause of Magna Carta. Magna Carta, also called Magna Carta Libertatum or The Great Charter of the Liberties of England, is an English charter, originally issued in Latin in the year...
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