From a cramped Florida prison cell in 1963, Clarence Earl Gideon, a penniless drifter, was able to change the lives of nearly 90 percent of all criminal defendants today. After being accused of breaking and entering, Gideon requested an attorney and was denied. Once convicted, Gideon wrote a petition arguing that being denied counsel violated his constitutional rights. The Supreme Court unanimously ruled in Gideon's favor, in Gideon v. Wainwright (1963), holding that the Sixth Amendment's guarantee of…
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