Week One: Right to Counsel—Gideon v. Wainright (1962)

Our seventh series will focus on some of the US Supreme Court’s most important civil liberties cases.  We’ll start with two cases that produced some words that television viewers know well, “You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to an attorney. If you cannot afford an attorney, one will be provided for you. Do you understand the rights I have just read to you?” 

Clarence Earl Gideon

This week, Gideon v. Wainright (1962).  Writing his petition from a prison cell and in longhand, Clarence Gideon convinced the Court to take his case asserting that his Florida conviction was unjust because he had been denied legal representation. The case of Gideon v. Wainwright (1962) changed our criminal justice system by establishing that criminal defendants do indeed have the right to an attorney, even if they can't afford one on their own. 

For this series, we will be calling our audience’s attention to two very different videos each week.  The first are short, highly-produced overview videos from the United States Courts.  The second are less polished but more detailed coverage of the same cases from C-SPAN.  To play the US Courts video which runs a little less than 5 minutes, click on the link below.

If the short video left you with questions, click on the link below for a C-SPAN video that goes a little deeper. The C-SPAN video at the link below runs 5:10.

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