Tom Harkin: “Monday marked the 50th anniversary of the Supreme Court's landmark decision in Gideon v. Wainwright. That decision…”

“Monday marked the 50th anniversary of the Supreme Court's landmark decision in Gideon v. Wainwright. That decision recognized that every person accused of a crime, whether wealthy or poor, is guaranteed the right to counsel. At its core, Gideon is the promise of justice for all, including the most vulnerable citizens of our society. We need to celebrate that landmark ruling and to recognize Clarence Gideon. In many instances throughout our history, it has been ordinary citizens who have led to the most profound changes in our country, and that is certainly the case here. Clarence Gideon was a poor drifter with a history of drinking and gambling. He was charged in Florida with breaking and entering into a pool hall and stealing money from vending machines. When he requested a lawyer be appointed to represent him, because he could not afford to hire an attorney, he was told that a lawyer was only provided to defendants facing the death penalty. From his prison cell at the Florida State Prison, Gideon wrote a handwritten note to the U.S. Supreme Court seeking to overturn his conviction because he had not been appointed a lawyer. That note read, simply: ``The question is I did not get a fair trial. The question is very simple.…”