Gideon v. Wainwright (United States Supreme Court, 1963)
Gideon v. Wainwright, 372 U.S. 335 (1963): "Lawyers in criminal courts are necessities, not luxuries."
In its 1964 decision Gideon v. Wainwright, the United States Supreme Court established that everyone in the United States has a fundamental right to be represented by an attorney in criminal court. The Supreme Court's crucial decision stems from the story of Clarence Earl Gideon. Mr. Gideon was arrested in Florida for a crime that he did not commit. Unable to afford an attorney to represent him at trial, Mr. Gideon asked the court to appoint him a lawyer. The court refused Mr. Gideon's request and forced him to defend himself against the overwhelming power of the State of Florida. After a trial where he was denied the aid of a trained attorney, Mr. Gideon was sentenced to five years in a state prison. Convinced of his own innocence and right to an attorney, Mr. Gideon appealed his case to the United States Supreme Court.
Declaring that "lawyers in criminal courts are necessities, not luxuries," the Supreme Court ruled that the Constitution of the United States provides a fundamental right to be aided by an attorney in a criminal case. In making this momentous judgment, the Supreme Court stated, "any person haled into court, who is too poor to hire a lawyer, cannot be assured a fair trial unless counsel is provided for him." The Court maintained that the right to counsel was a central ingredient in the American criminal justice system, proclaiming that the right to counsel is "fundamental and essential to fair trials." The Court concluded by saying that the noble ideal that 'every American stands equal before the law' could not be realized "if the poor man charged with crime has to face his accusers without a lawyer to assist him." The Supreme Court's decision in Gideon v. Wainwright serves as a mandate to states that they must provide counsel to indigent defendants.
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