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Gideon v. Wainwright| US Supreme Court decision of 1963 that required states to provide free counsel to any person accused of a felony who was too poor to hire their own. Prior to this case, only those defendants being tried for capital offences were guaranteed counsel. |
| Clarence Gideon, a Florida man accused of a felony, was forced by poverty to defend himself. He was convicted but appealed his conviction, arguing that his constitutional right to a lawyer had been denied. The court ordered a retrial, ruling that states must provide counsel for felony-case defendants, and Gideon was acquitted. |
| The decision was one of many under Chief Justice Earl Warren that protected the rights of accused criminals and extended the guarantees of the constitutional amendments to state actions. |
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