Gideon v. Wainwright Turns 40

Sponsored by
Dade County Public Defender, Federal Public Defender, S.D. Florida,
Federal Bar Association, S. Fla. Chapter, and Dade-Miami Criminal Justice Council

The right to counsel began with a burglary at the Bay Harbor Poolroom, on the outskirts of Panama City, Florida

Date: March 18, 2003 3:00 - 5:00 p.m.

Place:   Miami-Dade County Commission Chambers
            111 NW 1st Street, 2nd Floor, Miami

Who:    Everyone's Invited
            Reception to follow program

Celebrate the Birth of
the Constitutional Right to Counsel

Special Guests:

	Professor John Hart Ely. Law clerk to Abe Fortas, as he prepared to argue in the U.S. Supreme Court on behalf of Clarence Earl Gideon. Later served as law clerk to Chief Justice Earl Warren and as a federal public defender in San Diego. Professor of Constitutional Law at University of Miami School of Law and former Dean of Stanford Law School.
	Professor Bruce Jacob. Florida Assistant Attorney General who briefed and argued the case against Gideon in the U.S. Supreme Court. After the decision, he was one of the first to volunteer as a special assistant public defender. Later, as a law professor, he established the Legal Assistance for Inmates Program at the Atlanta Penitentiary and assisted in the establishment of the Harvard Prison Legal Assistance Project. Dean Emeritus and Professor of Criminal Law at Stetson Law School.
	Hon. W. Fred Turner. Lawyer appointed to represent Gideon at his retrial, which resulted in an acquittal. Retired Florida Circuit Court Judge.

Invited Panel Participants Include:

	Hon. Rosemary Barkett, United States Circuit Judge, Eleventh Circuit
	Hon. William J. Zloch, Chief United States District Judge, Southern District of Florida
	Hon. Gerald Kogan, Former Chief Justice, Florida Supreme Court
	Hon. Cecelia M. Altonaga, Circuit Court Judge
	Hon. Michael Chavies, Circuit Court Judge
	Hon. Bennett H. Brummer. Public Defender, Eleventh Judicial Circuit of Florida

Hon. Kathleen M. Williams. Federal Public Defender, Southern District of Florida

Paul M. Rashkind. President, Florida Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers-Miami

Print your FREE invitation here

Clarence Earl Gideon, a 50 year-old drifter, was charged with breaking and entering the poolroom, stealing bottles of wine, beer, soda, and change from a cigarette machine and a juke box.

Gideon insisted he was entitled to be represented by a lawyer. Since he could not afford a lawyer, he wanted a lawyer appointed for free. He claimed that the U.S. Supreme Court required appointed counsel for poor persons.

The trial judge denied Gideon's demand for a court-appointed lawyer, so he represented himself. The jury convicted him as charged and he was sentenced to 5 years imprisonment.

Gideon served his time at Raiford Prison in Union County, Florida. The imposing gate and tower guarded the prisoners and the prison's best known facility, Florida auto license tag plant.

From his Raiford Prison cell, Gideon handwrote a letter to the U.S. Supreme Court, asking for a writ of habeas corpus. The Supreme Court ordered a response by the state of Florida. This is a copy of Gideon's handwritten answer.

Birthday Celebration Program

The Not-So-Good Old Days Before Gideon v. Wainwright
The Not-So-Well Known Stories Behind the Case
The First 40 Years: From Infancy to Middle Age
Preparing to Age Gracefully

Hugh G. Cochran The respondent to Gideon's petition for writ of habeas corpus was the Director of the Florida Department of Corrections, H. G. Cochran, so the case was originally called Gideon vs. Cochran. That was the name when the case was called for oral argument in the Supreme Court.

Click the > button to hear Chief Justice Earl Warren
call the case for oral argument on January 15, 1963

Between the time of oral argument and the Court's decision, three months later, Louie Wainwright replaced Cochran as Director. When the decision was announced on March 18, 1963, the case had been renamed Gideon v. Wainwright.

A unanimous Supreme Court ruled in Gideon's favor. It recognized for the first time a constitutional guarantee that all accused persons -- rich or poor -- have a right to be represented by a lawyer.

Justice Hugo Black's opinion described why the right to counsel inheres in this Nation's criminal justice system:

"Governments, both state and federal, quite properly spend vast sums of money to establish machinery to try defendants accused of crime. Lawyers to prosecute are everywhere deemed essential to protect the public's interest in an orderly society. Similarly, there are few defendants charged with crime, few indeed, who fail to hire the best lawyers they can get to prepare and present their defenses. That government hires lawyers to prosecute and defendants who have the money hire lawyers to defend are the strongest indications of the widespread belief that lawyers in criminal courts are necessities, not luxuries. The right of one charged with crime to counsel may not be deemed fundamental and essential to fair trials in some countries, but it is in ours. From the very beginning, our state and national constitutions and laws have laid great emphasis on procedural and substantive safeguards designed to assure fair trials before impartial tribunals in which every defendant stands equal before the law. This noble ideal cannot be realized if the poor man charged with crime has to face his accusers without a lawyer to assist him."

Gideon's case was sent back to the Florida court for retrial. With a court-appointed lawyer representing him at the second trial, a jury found Clarence Gideon Not Guilty and set him free.

Listen to the complete oral argument
(all 3 hours of it)
by clicking here
www.oyez.com

Presented by the

Florida Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers-Miami

Sponsors:

Dade County, Florida Public Defender

Federal Public Defender, Southern District of Florida

Federal Bar Association, South Florida Chapter

Dade-Miami Criminal Justice Council

in conjunction with:

National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers

American Bar Association Criminal Justice Section

The Florida Bar