THE SIXTH AMENDMENT! In Powell v. Alabama, 287 U.S. 45 (1932),
the Supreme Court ruled that "in a capital case, where the defendant is unable to employ counsel, and is incapable adequately of making his own defense because of ignorance, feeble mindedness, illiteracy, or the like, it is the duty of the court, whether requested or not, to assign counsel for him.
Gideon v. Wainwright, 372 US 335 (1963)The U.S. Supreme Court took the first major step on the Sixth Amendment issue of right to counsel by holding that state courts must provide counsel to indigent defendants in criminal cases.
Gideon v. Wainwright
Assigned Counsel
No. Gideon v. Wainwright, 372 US 335 (1963) dealt with the right of criminal defendants to the Sixth Amendment protection of legal counsel, even if the defendant was indigent and couldn't afford an attorney.
a court-appointed attorney if they could not afford one. This ruling established the right to counsel for indigent defendants and extended the protections of the Sixth Amendment to state proceedings.
The Sixth Amendment
6th Amendment
The Sixth Amendment provides as follows:"In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right … to have the Assistance of Counsel for his defence."It is that Amendment that creates the right to have a lawyer regarding pleas. For additional information please see the related link below.
The precedent followed prior to Gideon v. Wainwright, 372 US 335 (1963) was established in Betts v. Brady,316 US 455 (1942), which held the Fourteenth Amendment Due Process Clause didn't require states to provide court-appointed counsel to indigent defendants except in death penalty cases. The Supreme Court reversed this decision in Gideon because access to counsel was necessary to protect a defendant's fundamental constitutional rights.
Gideon v. Wainwright, 372 US 335 (1963)The US Supreme Court held that indigent defendants in criminal cases have a Sixth Amendment right to court-appointed counsel. It pretty much was the cause of the establishment of the Public Defender system in American courts.For more information, see Related Links and Related Questions, below.
The US Supreme Court set a precedent requiring states to provide court-appointed counsel to indigent criminal defendants by applying the Sixth Amendment to the states via the Fourteenth Amendment due process clause.ExplanationThe US Supreme Court overturned the earlier decision in Betts v. Brady, 316 US 455 (1942), which held states weren't required to provide court-appointed counsel at trial, and failure to do so didn't violate a defendant's Due Process protection under the Fourteenth Amendment.In Gideon v. Wainwright, 372 US 335 (1963) the Supreme Court unanimously held that states had to provide free legal counsel to indigent criminal defendants. The Court asserted that poor people were being deprived of their Sixth Amendment constitutional right to an attorney, which applied to the states under the Fourteenth Amendment Due Process Clause. The condition of poverty placed defendants in a position of not receiving the same opportunity for a fair trial (due process) as people who could afford to hire an attorney, which was unconstitutional.
Betts v. Brady, 316 U.S. 455 (1942), was a landmark United States Supreme Court case that denied counsel to indigent defendants when prosecuted by a state. It was later famously overruled by Gideon v. Wainright.