CHAPTER ONE Clarence Gideon’s appeal to the Supreme Court helped change the law so all people accused of crimes were able to have lawyers regardless of their ability to pay for one In 1961 Clarence Gideon stood before a judge in Florida The 51-year-old man had been accused of breaking into a local business and stealing money from its vending machines A witness claimed to have seen Clarence Gideon at the scene of the crime Gideon insisted he was innocent But he could not afford to pay a lawyer He asked that one be provided to him The judge refused Gideon Seeking Justice 5
The Sixth Amendment Ten amendments or changes were added to the US Constitution in 1791 Together they are known as the Bill of Rights The amendments describe freedoms shared by all Americans The Sixth Amendment calls for the right to a fair and speedy trial It also mentions that all US citizens are entitled to a lawyer Before Gideon some courts had interpreted this to mean that a lawyer could be banned from representing an accused person They believed the court only needed to provide lawyers for very serious crimes such as murders had to speak for himself during the trial He was convicted of the crime and sentenced to five years in prison Gideon Appeals While in prison Gideon studied US law The Sixth Amendment to the US Constitution says that everyone must be allowed a lawyer to defend them in federal court cases Gideon believed he should have been allowed a lawyer Gideon asked that his case be heard by Florida’s highest court He was turned down But Gideon 6
The Supreme Court building in Washington DC kept appealing In 1962 the Supreme Court of the United States agreed to review his case A lawyer represented Gideon free of charge In 1963 Gideon and his lawyer stood before the nine Supreme Court justices in Washington DC Gideon’s lawyer explained that Gideon had been too poor to hire a lawyer for his first case Because Gideon was not allowed one his conviction was unconstitutional 7
