Political Quotes

“this Saturday, March 18, will mark the 60th anniversary of the unanimous and landmark Supreme Court decision in Gideon v. Wainwright, which held that every American has the constitutional right in criminal cases, regardless of their wealth and where they were born--they have a right, fundamentally, to the public defense system that we know today. Before Gideon was decided, people accused of crimes were left to fend for themselves, having to navigate arraignments, plea bargains, jury decisions, trials, cross-examination of witnesses--every part of the criminal prosecution, they had to do it themselves while facing government prosecutors who had the legal upper hand. Clarence Earl Gideon was a 51-year-old with an eighth grade education who ran away from home in middle school. History describes him as a ``drifter'' who spent time in and out of prison for nonviolent crimes, but history would also come to know him as someone who fundamentally transformed our legal system so that any person without resources accused of a crime has a due process right to a fair trial. You can't have a fair trial without counsel. In 1961, Gideon was arrested for stealing $5 in change and beer, allegedly doing so from the Bay Harbor Poolroom in Panama City, FL.…”