Essay On Gideon Vs Wainwright

The Gideon v. Wainwright case was a land mark case in the year 1963. This case was the topic of criminal defendants have a right to an attorney even if they cannot afford one. The case was about Clarence Earl Gideon was a man with an eighth-grade education who ran away from home when he was a young teen. He spent much of his early life as a drifter, spending time in and out of prisons for nonviolent crimes. Gideon was charged in Florida with breaking and entering with the intent to commit a misdemeanor, which is a felony under Florida law. At his trial, Gideon appeared in court without representation. While in open court, he asked the judge to appoint counsel for him because he could not afford an attorney. The judge denied Gideon’s request

He even resented witnesses in his own defense and declined to testify himself. He make loud and clear arguments emphasizing his innocence. With all of his hard fought battle, the jury found Gideon guilty and he was sentenced to five years imprisonment. Gideon sought chance from his conviction and filed a petition with in the Florida Supreme Court using the writ of habeas corpus. In his petition, Clarence Gideon challenged his conviction and sentence on the grounds that the Court judge refused to appoint him counsel, which violated his constitutional rights. When Clarence Gideon’s petition reached the Florida Supreme Court, it was immediately denied. Clarence Gideon refused to go down fighting so he next filed a handwritten petition in the Supreme Court of the United States. The Court agreed to hear his case to resolve and question of whether his right to counsel is guaranteed under the Sixth Amendment of the Constitution and applies to defendants in any state

Virginia was one of many cases threw out the nation that dealt with marriage of interracial couples. In the fifty’s a lot of things were not accepted due to racial tensions. The question asked in this case is, did Virginia's laws violate the Equal Protection of the Fourteenth Amendment? In 1958, two Virginia residents, A black woman named Mildred Jeter, and a white man Richard Loving, had gotten married in the District of Columbia where interacial marriages were not an issue. The big issue is the Lovings returned to Virginia shortly thereafter they got married and more problems insured. The moment the couple returned to Virginia, the couple was then arrested and charged with violating the state's antimiscegenation statute law. That law was which does not allow inter-racial marriages. In court, the Lovings did’nt have a shot of winning and were found guilty in court and both sentenced to a year in jail. The Lovings where also told by the trial judge in a deal that if the Lovings would leave Virginia and not return for 25 years they can have that one year in jail suspended. The Lovings would take the deal and move to district of