Gideon V. Wainwright Case Study

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On June 3, 1961 a man named Earl Gideon was convicted of a crime they were not for sure if he did. Between midnight and eight a.m. a burglary happened at the Bay Harbor Poolroom in Panama City, Florida. This unknown person that had broken in broke the door, smashed a cigarette machine and a record player, and stole man from the cash register from this poolroom establishment. So based on accusation the police arrested Gideon and charged him with breaking and entering with the intent of committing petty larceny because he had been at the Bay Harbor Poolroom that morning leaving with alcohol and money in his pocket. Gideon was expected to show up in court as he did but he was to poor to afford a lawyer or an representation which lead to this …show more content…
Wainwright. Gideon was the victim of violated rights of our constitution and Wainwright was the Secretary of the Florida Division of Corrections. So Wainwright was the defense attorney against Gideon in court and did not allow Gideon to have defense in court. The argument of the plaintiff which was Gideon was that his sixth amendment of the United States Constitution was being violated and he was not being defended in court. The argument of the defendant which was Wainwright was under Florida law, counsel could only be appointed for a poor defendant charged with a capital offense. The Florida Supreme Court agreed with the trial court and denied all relief. So Wainwright was following his state laws. The overall verdict of the case was the Supreme Court ruled that the Constitution requires the states to provide defense attorneys to criminal defendants charged with serious offenses who cannot afford lawyers themselves. The Supreme Court consist of 9 men who are Warren, Black, Douglas, Clark, Harlan, Brennan, Stewart, White, and Goldberg. The vote came down to a 9-0 decision and majority ruled with the constitution being a very valued part of our country that the decision of the court was to reverse the decision and give Gideon another fair court session with an attorney and the rights of the Constitution being