Vocab Terms
· 6th Amendment – In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the Assistance of Counsel for his defense.
· Bill of Rights – The first ten amendments
· Incorporation – the process of using the 14th amendment to apply the Bill of Rights to the states on a case by case basis
· Due process clause – a clause of the 14th amendment that deals with your criminal rights.
Summary of Gideon’s Trumpet by Anthony Lewis
In this article, Anthony Lewis recounts the events of the trial of Gideon vs. Wainwright. Clarence Gideon was a Florida state prisoner who was tried and convicted for “the crime of breaking and entering with the intent to commit a misdemeanor.” Gideon was poor and couldn’t afford a lawyer and the court refused to appoint one to him. They refused to appoint him a lawyer based on the court case of Betts vs. Brady. Twenty-one years prior to the court case of Gideon vs. Wainwright, Betts vs. Brady had ruled that a court would only appoint a lawyer in special circumstance cases. These “special circumstances” were things such as illiteracy, youth, mental illness, or ignorance. Gideon did not fall under any of these categories however he still was found guilty. His case was a simple one and any lawyer no matter how skilled would have been able to help him win his case. This situation showed an obvious flaw in the ruling of Betts vs. Brady.
Analysis of Gideon’s Trumpet
The story of Clarence Earl Gideon is an important one. A simple court case in the state of Florida eventually led to the decision that overturned the Betts vs. Brady ruling. The unmistakable importance of the Gideon vs. Wainwright case is due to the fact that it incorporated the sixth amendment. Incorporation means using the fourteenth amendment to apply the bill of rights to the states. The case of Barron vs. Baltimore ruled that the Bill of Rights only applied to the national government. This case created the need to incorporate the Bill of Rights. The incorporation of the sixth amendment was a landmark decision by the court however some states might not be following the incorporation of the sixth amendment to the best of their abilities. Two cities in Washington, Mount Vernon and Burlington, are part of what could be the first-ever federal-court takeover of a public-defender system. The public defenders in this system are expected to defend more than 2,000 cases a year. The Washington State Bar recently made a set of guidelines stating that a misdemeanor caseload of 400 cases a year is the maximum a public defender should be expected to carry. This dramatic difference between what the public defenders are doing and what they should be doing causes a problem due to the fact that the they can’t do their job well with that many cases. Defendants would almost be better off defending themselves in some cases. This goes against everything Gideon vs. Wainwright established when the sixth amendment was incorporated. These two cities are now in the process of reforming their public-defender system to hopefully reflect what Gideon vs. Wainwright accomplished.
· 6th Amendment – In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the Assistance of Counsel for his defense.
· Bill of Rights – The first ten amendments
· Incorporation – the process of using the 14th amendment to apply the Bill of Rights to the states on a case by case basis
· Due process clause – a clause of the 14th amendment that deals with your criminal rights.
Summary of Gideon’s Trumpet by Anthony Lewis
In this article, Anthony Lewis recounts the events of the trial of Gideon vs. Wainwright. Clarence Gideon was a Florida state prisoner who was tried and convicted for “the crime of breaking and entering with the intent to commit a misdemeanor.” Gideon was poor and couldn’t afford a lawyer and the court refused to appoint one to him. They refused to appoint him a lawyer based on the court case of Betts vs. Brady. Twenty-one years prior to the court case of Gideon vs. Wainwright, Betts vs. Brady had ruled that a court would only appoint a lawyer in special circumstance cases. These “special circumstances” were things such as illiteracy, youth, mental illness, or ignorance. Gideon did not fall under any of these categories however he still was found guilty. His case was a simple one and any lawyer no matter how skilled would have been able to help him win his case. This situation showed an obvious flaw in the ruling of Betts vs. Brady.
Analysis of Gideon’s Trumpet
The story of Clarence Earl Gideon is an important one. A simple court case in the state of Florida eventually led to the decision that overturned the Betts vs. Brady ruling. The unmistakable importance of the Gideon vs. Wainwright case is due to the fact that it incorporated the sixth amendment. Incorporation means using the fourteenth amendment to apply the bill of rights to the states. The case of Barron vs. Baltimore ruled that the Bill of Rights only applied to the national government. This case created the need to incorporate the Bill of Rights. The incorporation of the sixth amendment was a landmark decision by the court however some states might not be following the incorporation of the sixth amendment to the best of their abilities. Two cities in Washington, Mount Vernon and Burlington, are part of what could be the first-ever federal-court takeover of a public-defender system. The public defenders in this system are expected to defend more than 2,000 cases a year. The Washington State Bar recently made a set of guidelines stating that a misdemeanor caseload of 400 cases a year is the maximum a public defender should be expected to carry. This dramatic difference between what the public defenders are doing and what they should be doing causes a problem due to the fact that the they can’t do their job well with that many cases. Defendants would almost be better off defending themselves in some cases. This goes against everything Gideon vs. Wainwright established when the sixth amendment was incorporated. These two cities are now in the process of reforming their public-defender system to hopefully reflect what Gideon vs. Wainwright accomplished.
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