Right to Counsel


Listen to Abe Fortas argue the right to appointed counsel in Gideon v. Wainwright.  Clarence Earl Gideon v. Wainwright. The controlling Supreme Court precedent prior to Gideon was Betts v. Brady, which had held that there was no constitutional right to appointment of counsel for indigent defendants in felony cases.  In other words, Gideon was raising a "frivolous" issue with his petition, which had been denied without opinion through the courts below.  His "frivolous" petition established the right to appointed counsel, which ultimately led to the creation of the public defender system throughout the United States and later the Federal Public Defender system.  Following Gideon, then Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy initiated the legislation for the creation of the Federal Defender system.   
 Return to Home Page