GIDEON V. WAINWRIGHT: a landmark case?
FACTS:
Clarence Earl Gideon was arrested in 1961 and charged with breaking and entering. He did not have enough money to hire a lawyer, and when he requested that the Florida judge hearing his case appoint one to represent him, his request was denied.
A little about habeas corpus:
Habeas corpus is a Latin term that means "you have the body." It refers to a prisoner's right not to be held except under circumstances outlined by law. In other words, the police cannot simply pick up someone and hold him or her in prison. To legally hold a person in jail, the person must either be legally arrested and awaiting trial or convicted of a crime and serving a sentence. Moreover, the Fifth Amendment guarantees that citizens cannot be "deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law.
READ the petition that Gideon wrote to the Supreme Court to hear his procedural due process appeal and answer the following questions.
Why did the Supreme Court decide to hear an appeal written in pencil from a Florida prison by a penniless drifter names Clarence Earl Gideon?
Why does Gideon claim that he did not get a just and fair trial?
In addition to the right to counsel, what other rights were denied Gideon?
What might makes this petition remarkable and stand out to the Supreme Court Justices who decided to hear his case?
TERMS: Betts v. Brady, Powell v. Alabama, 5th, 6th, and 14th Amendments, stare decisis (precedent), due process—procedural, substantive, petition for certiorari
GIDEON V. WAINWRIGHT
1. For what crime was Gideon arrested?
2. How did Gideon respond when the judge asked Gideon if he was prepared for
trial?
3. How did the judge respond when Gideon requested that the judge appoint a lawyer
for him?
4. Was this case tried in a federal court or a state court? How do you know?
5. What was the key evidence presented against Gideon?
6. How would you have voted if you were a member of the jury, guilty or not guilty?
7. How well do you think Gideon defended himself? Why do you say this?
8. Do you think Gideon’s sentence fit the crime? Why?
9. According to Gideon in his letter to the Supreme Court, which of his Constitutional
rights were violated? In what amendment can that be found?
10. How many members are there on the Supreme Court?
11. What was the issue at stake for the Supreme Court?
12. How did the Supreme Court decide this case? What precedent cases were important and why?
13. What was going to happen to Gideon because of this decision?
14. On what Constitutional grounds did Gideon make a motion to be set free and not
be retried?
12. Why was it important for Gideon to have a lawyer to represent him at trial?
15. What judicial landmark precedent did Gideon v. Wainwright establish?
16. How do you think the opinion of the decision showed loose or strict constructionism at work? Did the Court “do justice” or “apply the law”?
17. Compare process of justice in the first trial with the second trial. How was the second trial different?