USA HISTORY

Detailed explanation-1: -The Court held that the Sixth Amendment’s guarantee of counsel is a fundamental right essential to a fair trial and, as such, applies the states through the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.

Detailed explanation-2: -In 1963, the Supreme Court ruled unanimously in favor of Gideon, guaranteeing the right to legal counsel for criminal defendants in federal and state courts. Following the decision, Gideon was given another trial with an appointed lawyer and was acquitted of the charges.

Detailed explanation-3: -Wainwright, 372 U.S. 335 (1963) In a unanimous decision, the Supreme Court established that the Fourteenth Amendment creates a right for criminal defendants who cannot pay for their own lawyers to have the state appoint attorneys on their behalf.

Detailed explanation-4: -The Sixth Amendment guarantees the accused the right to the assistance of counsel in all criminal prosecutions and requires courts to provide counsel for defendants unable to hire counsel unless the right was competently and intelligently waived.

Detailed explanation-5: -Gideon’s argument was relatively straightforward: The right to an attorney is a fundamental right under the Sixth Amendment that also applies to the states through the Fourteenth Amendment. By refusing to appoint him a lawyer Florida was violating the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.