Background

Clarence Earl Gideon was charged with breaking and entering the Bay Harbor Pool Room in Panama City, Florida at about 8:00 am on June 3, 1961.  Gideon was very poor and was unable to pay for a lawyer to defend him.  Gideon requested the court give him a lawyer since the Sixth Amendment says that everyone has the right to a lawyer.  However, the court would not give him a lawyer, leaving Gideon to represent himself.  Gideon did an awful job, and was of course found guilty of breaking and entering and petty larceny (a felony). He was sentenced to 5 years in a Florida state prison.

While in prison, Gideon began studying law and reading many law books in the prison library.  He believed his Sixth Amendment rights had been infringed upon and he wanted to prove it to the state.  He started off by filing a petition for habeas corpus with the Supreme Court of Florida which they revoked.  He then sent a handwritten petition for a writ of certiorari to the Supreme Court of the United States. The Supreme Court agreed to hear the Gideon's case.

writ of certiorari written by Gideon

Louie L. Wainwright

The Supreme Court ruled that all people have the right to a lawyer,overturning the decision in Powell v. Alabama and Betts v. Brady.  They allowed Gideon to be retried, this time with a lawyer.  Fred Turner represented Gideon in his new trial.  Turner was able to prove that the key witness in the previous trial was lying, and may even be part of the burglary himself.  He also showed that evidence that was used against Gideon could be used in favor of Gideon, and with Turner's expertise, Gideon won his trial.

The Supreme Court

In a suit against the Secretary of the Florida Department of Corrections, Louie L. Wainwright, Gideon appealed to the Supreme Court.  Gideon wrote a petition for a writ of certiorari from prison.  Gideon’s argument was that his Sixth Amendment rights had been violated by not being granted counsel.

Wainwright’s argument in defense of the decision was that the court was following the law of the State of Florida, which stated that the court could only appoint counsel in cases of those accused of capital offenses.

The Supreme Court Justices gathered in a conference and discussed the case.  Several attorneys sent in amicus curaie briefs in support of Gideon.  The Supreme Court overturned the previous case, Betts v. Brady, which allowed for selective use of the Sixth Amendment.  Betts v. Brady had decided that the right to counsel from the states was previously only applicable in federal cases.  This time the opinion of the court was that the right to counsel was essential to a fair and just trial.  Therefore, no person convicted of a crime, regardless of wealth, race, or class, should be forced to trial without counsel.  One of the judge’s concurrent opinions stated that the Constitution did not mention capital or non-capital cases in regard to right to counsel, so all cases should receive counsel.

This is a landmark case because it eliminated one of the major sources of unfair trials in the United State's court system and provided individuals, who could not defend themselves otherwise, the materials with which to construct a proper defense.  Gideon was retried with W. Fred Turner as his lawyer, who gave a convincing oral argument, and was acquitted this time rather than being sentenced to five years in jail.