Vol. 39, No. 4- Gideon Fifty Years Later

Featured

International Law

Introduction

by Robert E. Stein

The landmark Supreme Court case Gideon v. Wainright was decided on March 18, 1963, holding that the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution requires states to provide counsel to defendants in felony criminal cases if they are indigent and unable to hire an attorney. Fifty years later, we commemorate the anniversary of this case.

International Law

The Right to Counsel: An Unfulfilled Constitutional Right

by Tim Young

March 18, 2013, marks fifty years since the U.S. Supreme Court’s right to counsel decision in Gideon v. Wainwright. The U.S. Supreme Court requires states to implement the right to counsel by providing a lawyer to a person too poor to hire an attorney when charged with a crime.

International Law

Doing Justice to Gideon

by Deborah Leff, Melanca Clark

The mission of the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) is, and always has been, not merely to win cases—but to see that justice is done. Attorney General Robert Kennedy acknowledged this truth just two months after the landmark Supreme Court decision in Gideon v. Wainwright, when he told the Senate Judiciary Committee that poor people must have counsel in criminal cases so that justice can prevail.

International Law

It's All About Justice: Gideon and the Right to Counsel in Civil Cases

by John Pollock

For some, the fiftieth anniversary of Gideon v. Wainwright might seem to be a strange or even inappropriate time to talk about the right to counsel in civil cases. However, many of us in the civil right to counsel movement, as well as some who work in indigent defense, feel such a view comes from perceiving the criminal and civil justice worlds as inherently distinct.

International Law

Extending the Promise of Gideon: Immigration, Deportation, and the Right to Counsel

by Lucas Guttentag, Ahilan Arulanantham

Long before Gideon, the U.S. Supreme Court recognized that deportation may deprive an immigrant of “all that makes life worth living” and that “meticulous care” is required to ensure that the “depriv[ation] of liberty . . . meet the essential standards of fairness.” Bridges v. Wixon, 326 U.S. 135 (1945). Yet one of the most essential guardians of fairness—a lawyer to represent immigrants in deportation (now called “removal”) hearings against government prosecutors—is denied in nearly fifty percent of all cases, and even more often in cases involving detained immigrants.

International Law

Exporting Gideon

by Michael E. Burke

As we observe the fiftieth anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Gideon v. Wainwright, it is worth measuring how the decision has impacted international and foreign law. In general, the results are mixed: While some international and regional covenants support some of the same Gideon principles, many national governments have yet to create or enforce a right to legal assistance for indigent defendants in criminal cases.

International Law

The State Bar of Texas Fifty Years after Gideon

by Buck Files

I was a third-year law student when the Supreme Court decided Gideon v. Wainwright. As I prepared for my bar examination, I reviewed Gideon and understood what it said; however, I did not understand what it meant.

International Law

My Life in Court with Gideon

by Robert A. Weeks

On March 18, 1963, the Supreme Court held in Gideon v. Wainwright, 372 U.S. 335 (1963), that indigent criminal defendants charged with felonies in state courts were entitled to counsel at public expense as a matter of federal constitutional law.

Human Rights

Human Rights Heroes: Public Defenders

by Robert E. Stein

Public defenders both individually and as a group are the Human Rights Heroes we recognize in this fiftieth anniversary of Gideon issue of Human Rights magazine.

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Vol. 39, No. 4- Gideon Fifty Years Later

Introduction

Featured

Introduction

The Right to Counsel: An Unfulfilled Constitutional Right

Doing Justice to Gideon

It's All About Justice: Gideon and the Right to Counsel in Civil Cases

Extending the Promise of Gideon: Immigration, Deportation, and the Right to Counsel

Exporting Gideon

The State Bar of Texas Fifty Years after Gideon

My Life in Court with Gideon

Human Rights Heroes: Public Defenders

ABA Resources

The ABA

Connect

Renew Your ABA Membership

American Bar Association TM American Bar Association

Vol. 39, No. 4- Gideon Fifty Years Later

Introduction

Featured

Introduction

The Right to Counsel: An Unfulfilled Constitutional Right

Doing Justice to Gideon

It's All About Justice: Gideon and the Right to Counsel in Civil Cases

Extending the Promise of Gideon: Immigration, Deportation, and the Right to Counsel

Exporting Gideon

The State Bar of Texas Fifty Years after Gideon

My Life in Court with Gideon

Human Rights Heroes: Public Defenders

ABA Resources

The ABA

Connect