Answer to Question #161137 in History for Tom Tim Donny

Question

Answer the following questions regarding Gideon v Wainwright:

1. Case name and decision date
2. Details of the Case:  This would include some brief background info and possibly historical context that your audience needs to know to understand the case.  How did the case end up at the Supreme Court?
3. Constitutional Rights and Question: What was the Constitutional Question that SCOTUS addressed?  Which sections of the Constitution, amendments, and/or laws were applied to this case?
4. SCOTUS’s vote and ruling: ___ to ___ in favor of __________________.
5. SCOTUS’s answer to the Constitutional Question and Summary of both the majority and dissenting opinions: (dissenting opinion not required if decision was unanimous)  You may use short quotes from the justices, DO NOT include extensive text here.  These opinions must be explained in your own words, to show your understanding of the case. 
6. Significance of the Case: This will include answers to some or all of these questions, depending on the case:. Why is this considered a landmark supreme court case? What is the significance of this landmark case in terms of interpretation of the constitution, history, the law, society? What did it mean for our government? What did it mean for civil rights/liberties in our country?
7. Sources (Do not need to be in Works Cited form, just list them)
8. Answer each question about the case in detail. 3+ sentences each is fine.

Answer 1

Gideon v. Wainwright (1963) Case

Clarence Earl Gideon was a man with a class eight education who ran away from home when he was in mid-school. He spent much of his initial adult life as a wanderer, spending time in and out of prisons for non-violent wrongdoings.

The case started with the 1961 arrest of Clarence Earl Gideon. Gideon was accused of breaking into a Panama City, Florida, pool hall and stealing money from the hall's vending machines. At trial, Gideon, who could not afford a lawyer, requested that an attorney be appointed to represent him. He was informed by the judge that Florida only provided attorneys to indigent defendants charged with offenses that might result in the death penalty if they were found guilty. After five years of sentence in prison, Gideon filed a petition for release from unjust imprisonment to the Florida Supreme Court. He sued that his verdict was un-constitutional since he lacked a defense attorney at trial. After the Florida Supreme Court deprived of his petition, Gideon appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, which revised his case in 1963.

The Court ruled that the Constitution’s Sixth Amendment gives defendants the right to counsel in criminal trials where the defendant is charged with a grave crime even if they cannot afford one themselves. Therefore, the Court deduced the amendment as necessitating the country to offer defense attorneys in capital trials.

The SCOTUS’s vote and ruling: they ruled (9-0) that states are obliged to provide legal counsel in favor of indigent offenders charged with a crime.

Finally, the case was significant since all the court systems need to embrace the Bill of Rights in their ruling. Notably, every offender ought to be subjected to a fair trial including those who cannot afford lawyers themselves. Therefore, justice and freedom need to prevail in any ruling.

Sources

https://www.uscourts.gov/educational-resources/educational-activities/facts-and-case-summary-gideon-v-wainwright

https://www.thirteen.org/wnet/supremecourt/rights/landmark_gideon.html#:~:text=In%20Gideon%20v.,arrest%20of%20Clarence%20Earl%20Gideon.