Gideon v. Wainwright (1963)

On June 3 1961, Clarence Earl Gideon was caught, by a witness, breaking into a Florida pool hall and stealing booze and money. When he was arrested he could not afforded an attorney so he basically became his own defendant during the court case. Even though Florida provided free counsel they still denied Gideon his request for a court appointed lawyer. In jail, Gideon sent a petition to the Supreme court asking to accept his case as an appeal. the court accepted his case and he was finally appointed an attorney in the case Gideon v. Wainwright.

The Supreme Court had been doing studies on previous cases as to whether a lawyer can make a difference on a completely obvious case, and that was also Gideon's argument As well. He wanted to be able to have a fair trail where both sides had a generally equal chance with an attorney on both benches. Every person should have that right, because what if the person is actually innocent but has no attorney to prove it? An attorney at least gives the defendant a chance to be found not guilty.

This specific case had a great impact on every defendant. No matter how rich or how poor a person is they will be able to get some kind of an attorney. Even though a court appointed lawyer is not as skilled as a lawyer who has been greatly paid for, a court appointed lawyer still gives the defendant some luck in being able to get out of the case. No court should deny a lawyer no matter haw bad the crime is, and even with a lawyer if there is some raw and proof worthy evidence then the court should not have to be concerned by giving the accused an attorney since they will probably be found guilty anyways.