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Summary Of Gideon's Trumpet By Anthony Lewis

770 Words4 Pages

Anastasia Walker
Professor Ifedi
Introduction to Political Science
October 29, 2014

Book Report: Gideon’s Trumpet by Anthony Lewis The book Gideon’s Trumpet was written by Anthony Lewis, who was for many years a prominent reporter and columnist for the New York Times. Lewis tells the story of Clarence Earl Gideon, the plaintiff in the landmark Gideon v. Wainwright decision by the United States Supreme Court. The case was decided in 1963 and established that criminal defendants in the United States have the constitutional right to be represented in court by counsel even if they are unable to personally afford to pay an attorney. Gideon v. Wainwright provided the legal foundation for the requirement that indigent defendants be granted a court-appointed …show more content…

Gideon was arrested and charged with a crime on the basis of hearsay testimony from an alleged witness. When Gideon went to court for trial, he requested that he be granted counsel. The trial judge denied his request citing lack of legal authorization under Florida state law. Gideon subsequently represented himself at his trial, and was convicted by a jury. He was sentenced to five years in prison. While in prison, he wrote to the U.S. Supreme Court complaining that his constitutional rights had been violated. The Supreme Court agreed to hear his case, and appointed future Supreme Court Justice Abe Fortas as his representative. The Court subsequently ruled that the Fourteenth Amendment guarantee of equal protection under the law requires that indigent defendants be provided with counsel, and this ruling became the basis for the right to counsel that exists …show more content…

At the second trial, Gideon was represented by the attorney W. Fred Turner who won him an acquittal. An immediate consequence of the Supreme Court ruling was that over two thousand Florida prison inmates were released on the grounds that they did not receive a fair trial because their constitutional right to counsel had been denied. Gideon v. Wainwright was one of a number of important Supreme Court rulings that were handed down during the 1960s that provided greater protections to persons accused of a

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Transcript of Civil Liberties & the Civil Rights Court Cases Assignment Civil Liberties & the Civil Rights Court Cases Assignment Gideon v Wainright Dates: Argued January 15, 1963 Decided March 18, 1963 Background: Charged in a Florida State Court with a non capital felony, petitioner appeared without funds and without counsel and asked the Court to appoint counsel for him, but this was denied on the ground that the state law permitted appointment of counsel for indigent defendants in capital cases only. Mapp v. Ohio Dates : Argued March 29, 1961

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Prior to the case of Gideon v. Wainwright, defendant Clarence Earl Gideon was charged with breaking and entering in the state of Florida. This crime is a felony according to Florida state law. Unable to pay for defense counsel, Gideon requested that the court grant him one for free. The court denied Gideon his request of being granted defense counsel. The court stated, “Under the laws of the State of Florida, the only time the Court can appoint Counsel to represent a Defendant is when that person charged with a capital offense.”

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Shown here in the case of Gideon v. Wainwright, the court took it a step further by requiring states to supply defense attorneys to all criminals who have been charged with a felony (Gideon v. Wainwright par 5). Clarence was not a free man, however, but he did obtain a fresh trial (Clarence Earl Gideon par 11). With a new attorney to represent himself, known as Abe Fortas, Clarence was found not guilty (Remembering Gideon’s Lawyers page 18). The Supreme Court was rampant with numerous opinions related to the decision.

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Clarence Earl Gideon was falsely accused of burglarizing a cigarette machine and jukebox inside a poolroom. When Gideon was sent to court to receive his sentence, he had no lawyer, therefore he had to defend himself. Despite his valiant efforts, Gideon was sent to 5 years in prison. While there, Gideon filed a petition for writ of habeas corpus hoping to challenge his conviction. His ability to file for a petition is a positive right, so even though he was not given a lawyer, despite his need and right to one, some of his positive rights—filing a petition—were still upheld.

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Gideon v. Wainwright was a Supreme Court case that approached criminal justice around the mid 1950s and 1960s. In certain states criminals were not receiving fair representation in courts, which violated the Sixth Amendment. It wasn’t until the Supreme Court case Gideon v. Wainwright of 1963 that this issue changed. Gideon v. Wainwright was the most controversial and influential the Supreme Court ever took on, due to the fact that it challenged the very way criminals are incarcerated by the court themselves. Earl Gideon was a man with an eighth-grade education, he ran away from home when he was in middle school.

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Gideon was undoubtedly found guilty of the crime and was sent to prison. While he sat in a Florida prison, Gideon felt that his constitutional right to have an attorney was not granted. Thus, Gideon formulated an appeal to the Supreme Court handwritten on prison paper. The Supreme Court accepted his documents and decided to hear his case. Prior to Gideon vs Wainwright, Betts vs Brady was the case doctrine that was followed.

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He asked the state to justifies his case and give him the right to counsel. The Court agreed to hear the case to resolve the question of whether the right to counsel guaranteed under the Sixth Amendment of the Constitution should be proposed in Gideon's court

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Wainwright illustrated the importance of personal rights guaranteed by the constitution. This case began when Clarence Gideon was denied a court appointed lawyer to represent him in a petty crime case. Gideon, unable to afford his own lawyer, was unable to adequately defend himself and consequently was convicted. However, he was undeterred. Gideon then wrote a letter to the Supreme Court to overturn this conviction with the 6th Amendment as his evidence of the court’s misconduct.

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