Why did the court rule as they did in gideon vs wainwright?

Answer 1

The reason the Supreme Court agreed to hear Gideon v. Wainwright is that it addressed important constitutional issues of Due Process, which is supposed to apply equally to all defendants under the law. The case specifically reviewed application of the Sixth Amendment right to counsel that, prior to the ruling in Gideon, required indigent defendants to represent themselves in most State criminal cases. This put them at an unfair disadvantage because, unlike the government prosecutor, most defendants possessed no legal training (some were even illiterate) and couldn't receive a fair trial under those circumstances.

Gideon v. Wainwright is a landmark US Supreme Court case that incorporated the Sixth Amendment right to counsel in criminal proceedings to the states via the Fourteenth Amendment Due Process Clause. In this case, the Court ruled emphatically that indigent defendants were entitled to court-appointed lawyers at critical stages of prosecution, including arraignment and trial.

An earlier case, Powell v. Alabama, 287 US 45 (1932) had already extended that right to state defendants in capital (death penalty) cases, but the Supreme Court later allowed the states to exercise case-by-case discretion with regard to providing attorneys for other serious criminal offenses in Betts v. Brady, 316 US 455 (1942).

Case Citation:

Gideon v. Wainwright, 372 US 335 (1963)

For more information, see Related Questions, below.

Answer 2

In Gideon v Wainwright, the Supreme Court ruled that if a defendant cannot afford a lawyer, one must be provided to him or her by the state government (this requirement already applied to the federal government). As a result, the Supreme Court incorporated clauses of the Sixth Amendment to the states, meaning the decision applied to all states (and municipalities), not just Florida where the case originated.

This is important because, while the Sixth Amendment guarantees a right to counsel, it did not guarantee counsel to indigent defendants unless the sentence carried a possibility of the death penalty; therefore, less wealthy and less educated defendants were at a severe disadvantage because the lacked knowledge of relevant laws, procedures and rights. Even though there is still an obvious wealth gap in the quality of legal assistance that people find, this case established a more equal level of due process.

Gideon v Wainwright was brought before the U.S. Supreme Court on certiorari to the Supreme Court of Florida, on January 15th, 1963, and decided on March 18th, 1963.

Case Citation:

Gideon v. Wainwright, 372 US 335 (1963)

Answer 3

the court ruled that every person accused of a felony had the right to counsel

GRad point ;)