Florida Supreme Court Case: Gideon Vs. Wainwright

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The case began when Gideon was charged with breaking and entering. Gideon could not afford an attorney, so he asked the state of Florida to provide him with one. Only, since it wasn’t a capital offense -rather a felony- he was denied. In court, he became his own attorney by creating an opening statement, defense, arguments, and even declining his own testimony; but these efforts were futile, and he was sentenced to 5 years in prison. He soon filed a petition for writ of habeas corpus to the Florida Supreme Court on grounds the judge violated his constitutional rights, but the Florida Supreme court denied his petition. Gideon then filed for the United States Supreme Court, where they agreed to hear his case. The Supreme Court unanimously (9-0) upheld that the Sixth Amendment guaranteed rights to a fair trial; overturning the previous case of Betts v. Brady. The decision of Gideon vs. Wainwright was an act of Judicial Activism. In this case, Judicial Activism interpreted the Constitution as to have effect on Gideons rights as an American Citizen. Most activists judges let their allow their “own idea of what is right and wrong prevail over a law”. Which, is why the hearing was different than in Betts v. Brady, where a state court felony did not “violate the Due Process Clause”. In …show more content…
Nixon, was one of restraint. There were special investigators hired by nixon and the other accused,who sought out the hidden tapes. There were rapid investigations covering the agenda behind the wiring, and how it lead back to Nixon himself. And in July, the House of Representatives decided to vote on Nixon's impeachment for “obstruction of justice, abuse of power, criminal cover-up and several violations of the Constitution”. Thereby, causing his crime to be followed by the constitution. Leading his trial, and case to be one that was based off the original constitution by the framers rather than the emotional appeal of the
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