Free Essays on Gideons Trumpet

Gideon’s Trumpet Gideon vs. Wainwright was a monument of a case for people all across the country. Maybe it should have never passed by the Supreme Court at all. Betts vs. Brady should have never been overturned and should have remained the common practice throughout the country. The Supreme Court overlooked many important factors in deciding Gideon vs. Wainwright. This case should have been just another case decided by the standard that Betts vs. Brady set back in 1942. Betts vs. Brady was decided by a majority of six to three. This clearly proved that the due process clause of the fourteenth amendment did not assure a lawyer’s help in a state criminal trial. A lawyer didn’t have to be provided to a person unless he or she had â€Å"special circumstances†. Clarence Earl Gideon had none of these special circumstances. In fact, he did quite well defending himself in his own trial. He even cross-examined the witnesses that the prosecution called very completely. It just seemed like the Justices were biased towards Gideon and Fortas from the beginning. Smith Betts put forth the exact same case to the Supreme Court twenty years earlier. The difference was that different justices sat back then. Six out of nine of them could see the disadvantages of providing lawyers to everyone. Once all the newer justices started, and once Justice Frankfurter retired, they knew they could probably get the majority in overruling Betts vs. Brady. Federal enforcement of the Gideon case makes for a very inflexible and sterile legal system. Deciding to have every state grant a lawyer to everybody who wanted one really took a lot of power away from the states individually. When the states are allowed to form their own laws and procedures, a wide variety of systems result. It is in these different systems that we get closer and closer to the best way to do things. States should be allowed to experiment with their own legal system... Free Essays on Gideon's Trumpet Free Essays on Gideon's Trumpet Gideon’s Trumpet Gideon vs. Wainwright was a monument of a case for people all across the country. Maybe it should have never passed by the Supreme Court at all. Betts vs. Brady should have never been overturned and should have remained the common practice throughout the country. The Supreme Court overlooked many important factors in deciding Gideon vs. Wainwright. This case should have been just another case decided by the standard that Betts vs. Brady set back in 1942. Betts vs. Brady was decided by a majority of six to three. This clearly proved that the due process clause of the fourteenth amendment did not assure a lawyer’s help in a state criminal trial. A lawyer didn’t have to be provided to a person unless he or she had â€Å"special circumstances†. Clarence Earl Gideon had none of these special circumstances. In fact, he did quite well defending himself in his own trial. He even cross-examined the witnesses that the prosecution called very completely. It just seemed like the Justices were biased towards Gideon and Fortas from the beginning. Smith Betts put forth the exact same case to the Supreme Court twenty years earlier. The difference was that different justices sat back then. Six out of nine of them could see the disadvantages of providing lawyers to everyone. Once all the newer justices started, and once Justice Frankfurter retired, they knew they could probably get the majority in overruling Betts vs. Brady. Federal enforcement of the Gideon case makes for a very inflexible and sterile legal system. Deciding to have every state grant a lawyer to everybody who wanted one really took a lot of power away from the states individually. When the states are allowed to form their own laws and procedures, a wide variety of systems result. It is in these different systems that we get closer and closer to the best way to do things. States should be allowed to experiment with their own legal system... Free Essays on Gideon's Trumpet In Gideon’s Trumpet, Anthony Lewis provides a detailed account of Clarence Earl Gideon’s appeal to Supreme Court in order to gain his right to counsel, but Lewis also gives an excellent description of the process of appealing to the Supreme Court in general. Chapter 1 Chapter 1 describes Gideon’s claim to the Supreme Court (hereafter simply the Court). Gideon petitioned the Court in forma pauperis, in the manner of a pauper. Lewis states that the Court’s â€Å"Rule 53 allows an impoverished person to file just one copy of a petition†¦.‘due allowance’ for technical errors so long as there is substantial compliance† (4). From his initial filing to the Court, it appears as though Gideon made a substantial effort to comply with the standards set by the Court in regard to in forma pauperis petitions. Gideon’s application was written in pencil, but he included the affidavit required to proceed in forma pauperis. In his petition, Gideon also provided the Court with a copy of his habeas corpus petition that he filed to the Florida Supreme Court and the Florida Supreme Court’s rejection of that petition. In his petition, Lewis states that Gideon provided little, if any, personal information. Lewis describes Gideon as a destitute man who bore the marks of a destitute life. Gideon was 51 years old at the time of his petition to the Court. He had been convicted on four previous felonies. According to Lewis, hardly anyone would describe Gideon as a violent man; rather, Gideon was a man who found great difficulty in settling down and working to live. Thus, Gideon often turned to crime. In his filing to the Court, Gideon’s case was originally titled Gideon v. Cochran. Gideon’s primary submission to the Court was a 5-page petition for writ of certiorari. Gideon had been convicted of breaking and entering into the Bay Harbor Poolroom in Panama City, Florida. The crux of Gideon’s petition to the Court was that the due pr...