Gideon, << GIHD ee uhn, >> v. Wainwright was a landmark decision of the Supreme Court of the United States concerning the rights of accused persons. The court ruled that a state must provide legal counsel for anyone who is accused of a felony and cannot afford a lawyer. This 1963 decision overruled the 1942 ruling in Betts v. Brady. At that time, the court had decided that the right to a lawyer was not essential to a fair trial.
In 1961, Clarence Gideon, a penniless Florida resident, was accused of breaking into a poolroom. He claimed in a Florida court that he was too poor to hire a lawyer and that the state should provide one for him. The state refused, on the basis of the Betts case, and Gideon was convicted. While in prison, he asked the Supreme Court to review the Florida decision. The court assigned a prominent attorney, Abe Fortas, to plead Gideon’s right to counsel. The court ruled that the guarantee of a lawyer, set forth in the Sixth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, applied in state as well as federal cases. The state provided Gideon with a lawyer, his case was retried, and he was acquitted.
The 1972 case of Argersinger v. Hamlin expanded on the Gideon decision. The court ruled that states must provide counsel in any case involving possible imprisonment, however minor the offense.
