Gideon Vs Wainwright Case Study

Politically, this court case made it easier for similar incidents to be ruled fairly. Congress was able to make this ruling under the necessary and proper clause which allowed it “to carry out lex Moore 10/12/14 Bill of Rights Essay its enumerated power to ‘regulate commerce…among the several states’” (Landmark Supreme Court Cases – Gibbons v. Ogden (1824)). Culturally, the decision helped steamboat operators be able to understand what they were allowed to do and who would be in charge for any punishment should that ever be needed.

This case was extremely important and made is so children of all races could attend the same schools. This decision affected the Criminal Justice system as well as society as a whole and allows people to live they way they do

Gideon v. Wainwright( 1963, 9-0 Vote Decision) Facts of the Case/Question Clarence Earl Gideon was charged in Florida state court with a felony because he broke into and entered a poolroom with the intent to commit a misdemeanor offense. When he appeared in court, Gideon requested that the court appoint a lawyer for him because he did not have one. However, according to Florida state law, an attorney may only be appointed to a needy defendant in capital cases, so the court did not appoint one. Gideon represented himself at the trial. He was found guilty and sentenced to five years in prison.

Gideon v. Wainwright was a Supreme Court case that approached criminal justice around the mid 1950s and 1960s. In certain states criminals were not receiving fair representation in courts, which violated the Sixth Amendment. It wasn’t until the Supreme Court case Gideon v. Wainwright of 1963 that this issue changed. Gideon v. Wainwright was the most controversial and influential the Supreme Court ever took on, due to the fact that it challenged the very way criminals are incarcerated by the court themselves. Earl Gideon was a man with an eighth-grade education, he ran away from home when he was in middle school.

For instance, the defendants were not allowed an attorney or any sort of help, although the prosecution was. This even violated the sixth amendment in the American Constitution, meaning it was outright illegal (EB 1). Another example of unfairness to the defendant, is that all of the judges of the court had no legal background or training, and ran the courts only from the knowledge of the Bible, and advice from Ministers (2 CSD 1). This lack of legal background almost guaranteed that if they had to make a decision, they would decide in favor of the prosecution, because that was the side they supported. Furthermore, the courts were also run unfairly because anytime someone was found not guilty, the judges would urge the jury to think again, trying to make them vote guilty (1 CSD

Gideon stated to the judge that he was not ready to stand trial, as he could not afford a lawyer. He asked the judge to appoint a lawyer to represent him, but the judge refused, telling Gideon that the accused were only appointed legal counsel if they were on trial for a capital crime. This had been decided in the Supreme Court case Betts v. Brady 19 years earlier. The court held at that time that not providing counsel for the poor did not violate the 14th amendment. Gideon did his best to defend himself, but did not offer up any reasoning as to what he was doing on the night of the crime.

Imagine yourself struggling with financial problems. You get put into court and was denied an attorney when requested for they believe you can defend yourself with no degree in law at all. When unable to respond properly  you get put into jail just cause you couldn’t representing yourself.   Well that is what Clarence Earl Gideon experienced and had to argued for on Jan 15, 1963.

In this compelling novel, Arc of Justice, written by Kevin Boyle the life of Dr. Ossian Sweet changed dramatically in 1925. The story begins with Ossian Sweet, a young African American boy, living in Bartow, Florida at a time where oppression and segregation was implemented upon people of color by the Whites and those involved in the Ku Klux Klan. With the dreams of being an educated man, Ossian’s parents sent him off to Xenia, Ohio to get an education, where he later becomes a Doctor. He marries a young African American female named Gladys and with both of them having great aspirations of living in a nice neighborhood, they move into the bungalow on Garland. Ossian was skeptical about moving here because he knew that Garland was an all white

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.

He did not have a lawyer for his trial because he could not afford one, so he went to court representing himself. The Florida state law, stated that an attorney may only be appointed to an defendant in capital cases, so in that case the trial court did not appoint a attorney to Gideon. He presented witnesses in his own defense, declined to testify himself, and made arguments emphasizing his innocence in trial. Despite his efforts, Gideon eventually lost his case while representing himself, so he was found guilty and went to prison for five years in the state of Florida. Gideon proposed a handwritten court petition for his case.

One of these cases, Gideon v. Wainwright, served as a further enforcement of the 14th amendment's words, specifically the due process guarantee. Gideon was

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.

I am here today to defend my client, Thomas Putnam, who has allegedly been sending his daughter, Ruth, out to falsely accuse neighbors of witchcraft. The reason, as declared by Giles Corey, is to buy off his convicted neighbor’s land in order to expand his estate. However, I am here to refute these inadequate claims with the clear and defined truth. Nevertheless, I will not claim that my client, Mr. Putnam, is a complete saint as he (and with numerous others) has his flaws. Yet, with Mr. Corey raising these erroneous claims, I will not stand here and let his faulty and inaccurate logic falsely persuade the jury.