Gideon+vs+Wainwright

**"If an obscure Florida convict named Clarence Earl Gideon had not sat down in his prison cell . . . to write a letter to the Supreme Court . . . the vast machinery of American law would have gone on functioning undisturbed. But Gideon did write that letter, the Court did look into his case . . . and the whole course of American legal history has been changed." //—Robert F. Kennedy// awesome quote! **

//Gideon vs. Wainwright//, a 1963 Supreme Court case, was a landmark case that reformed the state court system's jurisdiction of appointed counsel. The case was argued on the 16th of January 1963, a verdict agreed upon on the 18th of March 1963, and a retrial and acquittance on the 5th of August 1963. Chief Justice Earl Warren judged the case, alongside Associate Justices Hugo Black, William O. Douglas, Tom C. Clark, John M. Harlan II, William J. Brennan Jr., Potter Stewart, Byron White, and Arthur Goldberg.

The Supreme Court ruled in //Powell v. Alabama//, the famous 1932 Scottsboro Boys case, that the Assistance of Counsel Clause of the Sixth Amendment included the right to appointed counsel in “special circumstances” capital cases, and that this right was instituted by the Fourteenth Amendment. In the 1942 case of //Betts vs. Brady//, the Supreme Court extended the appointed counsel right to specific non-capital cases. The significance of this adjustment was that if a case that is deemed counsel-worthy is tried without an appointed counsel (should the defendant request for it), the case is considered unfair.

Clarence Gideon was arrested in a Panama City, Florida hotel, after police accused Gideon of breaking into the hotel, smashing a cigarette machine and record player, and stealing money from the register. When Gideon appeared in court, he was denied representation by counsel by the Court. Gideon argued that under the Sixth Amendment, he had a right to counsel. However, according to laws during that time period, the judge was actually correct. Florida did not allow representation by counsel to those who could not afford it. Preceding his denial to counsel, Gideon was forced to represent and defend himself against the case. He was decided guilty of all charges and sentenced to five __year__ in the Florida state prison, which deeply angered Gideon. He applied to the Florida Supreme Court for his release from jail for being illegally imprisoned. After his application was denied, he wrote a five-page appeal of his denial to the Supreme Court of the United States, claiming that his Sixth Amendment rights had been denied. Although the Supreme Court receives thousands of petitions each year, they decided to hear Gideon’s proposal. The case was dubbed the name //Gideon vs. Wainwright// [the director of Florida's Division of Corrections]. The Assistant Attorney General of Florida Bruce R. Jacob defended the state of Florida. A prominent lawyer, Abe Fortas, was Gideon’s appointed counsel. The case was presented to the Supreme Court on January 16, 1963, and a verdict announced on March 18th, 1963. The Court referred back to its previous ruling in //Powell vs. Alabama//, saying that the right to appointed counsel in capital cases was backed by the Fourteenth Amendment. however, the issue of whether appointed counsel was applied to non-capital cases sparked debate. The Supreme Court remanded the case to the Supreme Court of Florida for "further action non inconsistent with this decision." Gideon chose W. Fred Turner as his attorney for his second trial. Turner questioned eyewitness Henry Cook, whose opening and closing statements suggested the possibility that Cook had acted as a lookout while a group of young men broke in to steal beer, and then decided to take coins as well. Turner also questioned a cab driver, who said that Gideon had been carrying no beer or wine when he picked him up, contradicting Cook's statement that he saw Gideon walk from the pool hall to the pay phone, and then wait for a cab. The cab driver's statement completely discredited Cook. Gideon was acquitted after an hour of jury deliberation.
 * [[image:gideon-vs-wainwright/imagesCAZOG1EE.jpg caption="Clarence Gideon"]] ||
 * Clarence Gideon ||

The main issue of this case was the issue of which cases should be appointed counsel. Through //Powell vs. Alabama// and //Betts vs. Brady//, the standards for court cases that could be appointed counsel expanded from specific capital cases to most non-capital cases. Although Gideon’s right to counsel had been protected by the Sixth Amendment, the Florida Supreme Court had denied Gideon the right to appointed counsel at his first trial. The decision of the Supreme Court was announced by Justice Hugo Black, with three concurring opinions written by Clark, Douglas, and Harlan.**(what did they decide?) ** Because the case was sent back to the Supreme Court of Florida, there was no vote count for the Supreme Court case. The decision of Gideon's second case, tried at the Supreme Court of Florida, acquitted Gideon.
 * [[image:gideon-vs-wainwright/imagesCA39W10F.jpg caption="Gideon's written petition to the Supreme Court"]] ||
 * Gideon's written petition to the Supreme Court ||

We believe that this case was an extremely beneficial part of Supreme Court history. It displayed the importance of the Fourth and Sixteenth Amendments in our justice system. If this case had gone the other way, the Fourth and Sixteenth Amendments' significance would have been overlooked, Gideon would not have been appointed counsel, and most likely would have not been given a retrial. The verdict of the Supreme Court's ruling freed some 2,000 Florida inmates, and gave Gideon his second trial. Although the Court had upheld the appointed counsel rights to specific cases, when Gideon appeared in court, they reversed the ruling of //Betts vs. Brady//, and replaced the idea of a case-by-case analysis as to whether counsel should be appointed to a necessary procedure of every case, which sparked heavy debate.

__ __Citations__ __ "Gideon v. Wainwright." //Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia//. 25 Aug. 2009. Web. 14 Feb. 2012. <[]>.

McBride, Alex. "The Supreme Court . Expanding Civil Rights . Landmark Cases . Gideon v. Wainwright (1963) | PBS." //PBS: Public Broadcasting Service//. Dec. 2006. Web. 14 Feb. 2012. <[]>.

"Gideon V. Wainwright (1963)." //Eca.state.gov//. Web. 14 Feb. 2012. <[]>.


 * 6/7 Biblio - alphabetical, plus, only 3 sources?? **
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 14px;">22/28 Content - you're missing the Chief Justice's bio section. Also, more analysis on why this was the right verdict. What was the vote on the verdict? 9-0? **
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 14px;">3.5/5 Organization -- you should have headings for each section. **
 * 31.5/40 Total**