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Essay On Gideon Vs Wainwright

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EqualJusticeUnderLaw
The famous court case: Gideon v. Wainwright

“If an obscure Florida convict named Clarence Earl Gideon had not sat down in his prison cell… to write a letter to the Supreme Court… the vast machinery of American law would have gone on functioning undisturbed. But Gideon did write that letter, the court did look into his case… and the whole course of American legal history has been changed.” Robert F. Kennedy (Gideon v. Wainwright). When this broke, trouble prone man was sentenced 5 years in prison for stolen change and drinks, he had no lawyer. This was really bad for Gideon because there is a very slim chance he would be considered not guilty without someone defending him. He lost this case and was sent to prison. He wrote …show more content…

Gideon really wanted this right because he had spent most of his life in prison without a lot of money. “The Supreme Court agreed with Gideon that he had not been given a fair trial…” (Gideon v. Wainwright) In this quote, it shows you that life's unfair without this case. A lot of people made this happen and 11 of the many people are: Clarence Earl Gideon, Louie L. Wainwright, Earl Warren, Hugo Black, William J. Brennan, Potter Stewart, Bryon White, Arthur Goldberg, William O. Douglas, Tom C. Clark, and John M. Harlan II. The need for this change was huge from all of the unfair trials before …show more content…

Now anyone can get a court appointed counsel. “The right to appointed counsel has been extended to misdemeanor and juvenile proceedings”(The Legacy of Gideon v. Wainwright). “Clarence Earl Gideon was an unlikely hero. He was a man with an eighth-grade education who ran away from home when he was in middle school” (Facts and Case Summary - Gideon v. Wainwright). Gideon gave criminals the right to a fair trial making him a definite hero. His case against Louie L. Wainwright was a very big thing for most people. Even though this case took 2 months and 3 days, it was still a very suspenseful trial for anyone involved. Gideon definitely an unlikely hero because you would not expect an uneducated man to win an intense Supreme Court

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