A drifter wrote to the Supreme Court in pencil from prison — and won everyone the right to a lawyer

If you're charged with a crime and can't afford a lawyer, the court has to give you one. That right exists because one broke man in a Florida prison cell got a pencil and some prison stationery.

"I cannot appoint counsel"

In 1961, someone broke into a pool hall in Panama City, Florida. Clarence Earl Gideon, a drifter with a long record of minor crimes, was charged with breaking and entering with intent to commit petty larceny.

He couldn't afford a lawyer, so he asked the court to appoint one. The judge told him: "I cannot appoint counsel to represent you in this case." At the time, Florida only provided lawyers to poor defendants in capital cases.

So Gideon defended himself — questioning witnesses, making arguments, doing the best a man with no legal training could. He was convicted and sentenced to five years in state prison.

The petition

From his cell, Gideon studied the law in the prison library and wrote a petition to the U.S. Supreme Court in pencil, on prison stationery, arguing that he'd been denied a fair trial because he had no lawyer.

The Court agreed to hear it. Gideon was assigned one of the most prominent attorneys in Washington, Abe Fortas, who later became a Supreme Court justice himself.

9–0

On March 18, 1963, the Supreme Court ruled unanimously in Gideon v. Wainwright: the Constitution's guarantee of counsel applies in state criminal courts, and a defendant who can't afford a lawyer must be given one. In the Court's words, a fair trial is impossible for a poor person "unless counsel is provided for him."

The retrial

Gideon got a new trial — this time with a lawyer, who picked apart the prosecution's main witness. The jury acquitted him after about an hour.

He wasn't the only one who walked out. Roughly 2,000 people in Florida alone were freed in the aftermath, because they'd been convicted without lawyers too.

What this means for you

Gideon is why public defenders exist. Later Supreme Court cases extended the rule: if you're facing a charge that can actually send you to jail and you can't afford a lawyer, you have a right to one.

• Ask for a lawyer at your first court appearance if you can't afford one. Say it clearly.
• Don't try to talk your way out of it with police. The time to explain is with a lawyer, not in an interrogation room. What to say to police.
• Public defenders are real lawyers. Many are heavily overloaded, so stay in contact and keep copies of everything.

Quick reference

• Gideon v. Wainwright (1963), 9–0: states must provide lawyers to defendants who can't afford one
• Gideon's petition was handwritten in pencil from prison
• With a lawyer, he was acquitted after about an hour
• About 2,000 people were freed in Florida after the ruling
• If you can't afford a lawyer and face jail time, ask for a public defender