Gideon V. Wainwright Case

The case of Gideon v. Wainwright was a case that took place in the year 1963. In the state of Florida in that time, the only way you could have a free counsel appointed to you is if you were on death row. This case made it so that no matter who you are, you can have a court appointed counsel if you can’t pay for one yourself. This case dealt with issues of the 6th amendment, and the 14th amendment as well. The Sixth Amendment guarantees that having a counsel is a fundamental right essential to a fair trial and the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment as well. Because Gideon was not on death row, he did not have a court appointed counsel, so he decided to represent himself instead of having someone else represent him like what would …show more content…
Personally, when I look at the Sixth Amendment, I think that it means that when someone is accused, they have the right to have a quick, public trial with an impartial jury. They are to be informed of the reason they are being accused, and they should be confronted by the person testifying against them, he should have witnesses in his favor, and he should have Counsel for his defense. As well as the Sixth Amendment being involved in this, the Fourteenth Amendment is another key part of the constitution that is involved in this case. After reading Section 1 of the Fourteenth Amendment, I would have to say that I think it means that anyone that is a citizen of the United States has rights and the state cannot make or enforce any law that will affect the privileges or immunities of the citizens of the United States. They also cannot deprive any person of life, liberty, or property without the due process of law or deny any person equal protections of the law. By not letting Gideon have a court appointed Counsel for his defense, he was denied rights according to the Sixth Amendment, and he was denied due process as well according to the Fourteenth Amendment. These sections of the Constitution have a very big part in this case and they are pretty much the only two that are seen in the case. Gideon was very correct to say that his rights were denied, because they

Show More

Wainwright V. Gideon Case

The Gideon V. Wainwright Case