Background
Summary and Questions
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Vocabulary
witness
Define:
Use in a sentence:
legal defense
Define:
Use in a sentence:
entitled
Define:
Use in a sentence:
felony
Define:
Use in a sentence:
indigent
Define:
Use in a sentence:
On
June 3, 1961, someone broke into the Bay Harbor Pool
Room in Panama City, Florida. Some beer and wine were
stolen. The cigarette machine and jukebox were smashed
and money was missing. A witness said he saw
Clarence Earl Gideon in the poolroom early that morning.
The police found Gideon and arrested him. He had a lot
of change in his pockets and was carrying a bottle of
wine. They charged him with breaking and entering.
Gideon
was poor. He could not afford a lawyer. At the trial,
he asked the judge to appoint a lawyer for him. The
judge said no. Gideon argued that the Sixth Amendment
says he is entitled to a lawyer. The judge
told Gideon that the state doesn't have to pay for a
poor person's legal defense. This meant that
Gideon had to defend himself. He tried hard but didn't
do a very good job. For example, he called some witnesses
who helped the other side more than they helped him.
Gideon was found guilty and was sentenced to five years in jail. He thought that this was unfair because he had not been given a lawyer. He asked the Supreme Court of Florida to release him but the court said no. Gideon kept trying. He wrote a petition and sent it to the Supreme Court of the United States. When it read what Gideon had written, the Court agreed to hear his case.
In
an earlier case, Betts v. Brady, the Court
had ruled that in state criminal trials, the state must
supply a poor defendant with a lawyer only if there
are "special circumstances". These special
circumstances could be that the case is very complicated
or that the person is illiterate or not competent to
represent himself. Gideon did not claim any of these
special circumstances. The Court needed to decide if
it should get rid of this "special circumstances"
rule. If it did so, then poor people like Gideon would
be given a lawyer if charged with a felony
in a state court.
Questions to Consider:
- What was Gideon accused of doing?
- At the trial, what did Gideon ask the judge to give him? Do you think this would have helped him? Why or why not?
- What did Gideon send to the Supreme Court of the United States?
- Why did the Supreme Court of the United States agree to hear Gideon's case?
- Do you think that poor people who are accused of crimes should be given a free lawyer? Why or why not?
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