Clarence Gideon was arrested for breaking into a Florida pool hall with intention to burglarize it. Gideon requested a court-appointed attorney and was denied because Florida only provided free counsel only in capital cases. At court, Gideon pleaded not guilty and conducted his own defense. He was found guilty and had to serve five years of imprisonment. When Gideon was in prison, he submitted a handwritten petition requesting the U.S. Supreme Court to accept his case on appeal.
I do think it was a good decision to approve Gideon's appeal because it made it so everyone could have a counsel if they couldn't afford one. If the person isn't appointed a lawyer, then they could have no idea what to say or what not to say. If both sides have a lawyer it is more fair to both sides because they know the law more than anyone.
When Gideon was in prison, he wrote a petition requesting an appeal on his case in the U.S. Supreme Court. I think this is very good because it is a person sticking up for themselves. If he had never done this, there wouldn't have been such a monumental case. This video shows parts of his case and how he clearly asked for a counsel and then the judge said he could only ask for one if it was dealing with the death penalty.
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