Home > Great American Court Cases > Gideon v. Wainwright

Legal Citation: 372 U.S. 335 (1963)

Appellant
Clarence Earl Gideon

Appellee
Louie L. Wainwright, Director, Division of Corrections

Appellant's Claim
That the Sixth Amendment requires states to provide legal counsel for impoverished criminal defendants charged with serious offenses.

Chief Lawyer for Appellant
Abe Fortas

Chief Lawyer for Appellee
Bruce R. Jacob

Justices for the Court
Hugo Lafayette Black (writing for the Court), William J. Brennan, Jr., Tom C. Clark, William O. Douglas, Arthur Goldberg, John Marshall Harlan II, Potter Stewart, Earl Warren, Byron R. White

Justices Dissenting
None

Place
Washington, D.C.

Date of Decision
18 March 1963

Decision
Declaring that the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment makes the Sixth Amendment right to...