In 1961, a burglary occurred at a pool hall in Panama City, FL. Police arrested Clarence Earl Gideon after he was found nearby with a pint of wine and some change in his pockets. Gideon, who could not afford a lawyer, asked for the judge to appoint one for him arguing that the Sixth Amendment entitles everyone to a lawyer. The judge denied his request and Gideon had to represent himself. He did a poor job of defending himself and was found guilty of breaking and entering and petty larceny. While serving his sentence in a Florida state prison, he began studying law and found out that his constitutional rights had been violated so he wrote a petition from prison asking the U.S. Supreme Court to hear his case and it agreed. Once the case had been taken to the Supreme Court it started getting publicity and soon became a landmark case. The Court unanimously ruled in Gideon’s favor, stating that the Six Amendment requires state courts to provide attorneys for criminal defendants who cannot otherwise afford counsel.
I don't think the Supreme Court justices had much to think about in this case, the 6th amendment clearly states that every criminal defendant shall be appointed an attorney if they can't afford one of their own. I agree with their decision to rule in Gideon's favor, because this court case was the first to call the 6th amendment to question and the Supreme Court handled the case perfectly and basically made the decision for any court cases to come in which someone feels the 6th amendment has been violated.
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