...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...
Words: 746 - Pages: 3
...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....
Words: 475 - Pages: 2
...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...
Words: 1713 - Pages: 7
...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...
Words: 669 - Pages: 3
...The 14th Amendment of the United States Constitution states that “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...
Words: 716 - Pages: 3
...such as inadvertently convicting individuals of crime that they did not commit. The Bill of rights and the constitution protects individuals accused of committing crimes in the United States. Among such rights “Due Process of Law” is the protection against arbitrary deprivation of life, liberty or 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...
Words: 1007 - Pages: 5
...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....
Words: 561 - Pages: 3
...and ideas when the power is shared between the state governments and federal governments. With dual federalism, neither the state nor the government gets too much power over what the other one can do. The power of national government is only able to control what the constitution said it can control. It also needed the Supreme Court to try to limit the power of the federal government and establish clear boundaries for interstate and intrastate commerce. Also, congress is not allowed to regulate economic activity...
Words: 1310 - Pages: 6
...compulsory among the states by way of the Fourteenth Amendment. The English Bill of Rights of 1689 expressed concern with arbitrary and disproportionate sanctions, giving way to the Founders inclusion of the prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment. To explore the Eighth Amendment it is important to consider constitutionally accepted punishments, the ever-evolving practice of capital punishment, and eighth amendment protection inside prison walls. Barron V. Baltimore (1833),...
Words: 760 - Pages: 4
...Gideon’s Trumpet, by: Anthony Lewis Clarence Earl Gideon was born on August 30, 1910 in Missouri. Gideon lost his father when he was three years old. His home life was non existent as he ran away from home when he finished eighth grade and started living his life as a homeless drifter. By the time that Gideon reached the age of sixteen he had an extensive list of petty crimes. At age eighteen he was arrested in Missouri and convicted of robbery, larceny and burglary. Gideon was sentenced to ten years in prison but was released in 1932 after serving three years. Gideon would spend most of the next thirty years in poverty and in and out of prison. Throughout this time he was married four times, the first three marriages ended very quickly but the last marriage in the 1950’s would last longer. Gideon and his wife settled in Panama City, Florida after having three children who would later be taken away by welfare authorities. Gideon found work as an electrician but gambled to subsidize his low income. Gideon would not go back to jail again until 1961. On June 3, 1961 four fifths of wine, twelve bottles of Coca Cola, twelve cans of beer, about five dollars from the cigarette machine and sixty dollars from the juke box were stolen from Bay Harbor Poolroom which belonged to Ira Strickland Jr. A twenty-two year old resident that lived close by, Henry Cook, told the police that he saw Gideon get into a cab after walking out of the pool hall with a bottle of wine and pockets...
Words: 3150 - Pages: 13
...Citation: Gideon v. Wainwright, 372 U.S. 335 (1963) Facts: Gideon was charged with breaking and entering with the intent to commit a misdemeanor, which is a felony under Florida law. At trial, Gideon appeared in court without an attorney. In open court, he asked the judge to appoint counsel for him because he could not afford an attorney. The trial judge denied Gideon’s request because Florida law only permitted appointment of counsel for poor defendants charged with capital offenses. At trial, Gideon represented himself – he made an opening statement to the jury, cross-examined the prosecution’s witnesses, presented witnesses in his own defense, declined to testify himself, and made arguments emphasizing his innocence. Despite his efforts, the jury found Gideon guilty and he was sentenced to five years imprisonment. Gideon sought relief from his conviction by filing a petition for writ of habeas corpus in the Florida Supreme Court. In his petition, Gideon challenged his conviction and sentence on the ground that the trial judge’s refusal to appoint counsel violated Gideon’s constitutional rights. The Florida Supreme Court denied Gideon’s petition. Gideon next filed a handwritten petition in the Supreme Court of the United States. The Court agreed to hear the case to resolve the question of whether the right to counsel guaranteed under the Sixth Amendment of the Constitution applies to defendants in state court. Issue: A prior decision of the Court’s, Betts v. Brady...
Words: 484 - Pages: 2
...The ruling in the case Betts v. Brady in 1942 had significant ramifications for criminal defendants. It held that a defendant, who was not able to afford a counsel themselves, will not be appointed a counsel by the state if they were prosecuted by the state, in contrast to a federal prosecution where a counsel is provided by the government if needed. This ruling was strictly followed until March 18, 1963, when it was overruled by Gideon v. Wainwright, in which all nine justices unanimously ruled that under the Sixth Amendment, a defendant charged in a state and federal level will be represented by a counsel, appointed by the state, if they were unable to afford one. This ruling leads to quick actions by numerous states, including Florida, to begin providing counsel for indigent defendants....
Words: 659 - Pages: 3
...review Powell v. Alabama (1932) and Gideon v. Wainwright (1963) for this week’s post. I found these two cases to be similar in the resulting opinions issued by the United States Supreme Court. In both cases the court found that the Sixth Amendment rights of the defendants were violated by the trial courts. Powell v. Alabama was significant in multiple aspects. It established the precedent that not only must a lawyer be assigned but the court, but that that lawyer must also provide effective counsel to the defendant. The Supreme Court recognized that a counsel who never meets with the defendant is not providing the legal representation to the defendant that was the intent of the framers of the Constitution. The second precedent that I think it set, even it if was not intended, is that all persons accused of a crime are entitled to...
Words: 596 - Pages: 3
...Supreme Court case Gideon versus Wainwright. The case focused on Gideon who was “charged with breaking and entering into Florida poolroom, a felony in the state” (“Gideon v. Wainwright” 1). The defendant didn’t a counsel to defend him in his case because he couldn’t afford to pay for them. As a result, he was forced to defend himself on his own. After further investigation, a “unanimous court held that the Sixth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, as applied to the states through the Fourteenth Amendment, required that counsel be appointed to represent poor defendants in criminal cases” (“Gideon v. Wainwright” 1) resulting in a retrial. During the new trail, Gideon was “acquitted after new defense witnesses were found and some of the state’s witnesses were discredited” (“Gideon v. Wainwright” 1) giving him a fair chance. This court case lead to the Supreme Court allowing defendants the opportunity to a counsel regardless of their income. They had to decide if sixth amendment should be extended to minor cases as well as felony cases. The Supreme Court believed that every citizen should have an equal opportunity to defend...
Words: 1536 - Pages: 7
...Gideon v. Wainwright was a very important case for the Supreme Court; it guaranteed the same kind of fair trial in state courts as was expected in federal courts. In 1961 Clarence Gideon was denied an attorney in a state court and he appealed to the Supreme Court arguing this was violating his constitutional right to a fair trial. This was going against a previous decision by a Federal Court of Appeals in 1941. The Supreme Court accepted Gideon's petition and reviewed the decision of the Court of Appeals. In 1963 the Supreme Court decided in favor of Gideon and overruled the previous decision changing the precedent for all state courts. The decision stated that the sixth amendment applied to states and now we are (Krajicek, Clarence Gideon...
Words: 947 - Pages: 4
