Unable to pay for a lawyer, a man arrested for breaking and entering was forced to defend himself in court, resulting in a sentence of five years in prison. Was this fair? That question took Gideon v. Wainwright all the way to the Supreme Court, where it was decided that state courts should be required to provide attorneys to defendants in criminal cases who cannot afford their own. As stated by Justice Hugo Black, ""Lawyers in criminal courts are necessities, not luxuries."" ""Gideon v. Wainwright"" is a vivid account that delves into the judicial process that went into this landmark case.
This is Book 1 in the Great Supreme Court Decisions Series. See all Great Supreme Court Decisions books here.
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G.S. Prentzas is an editor and a writer who lives in New York. He has written a dozen books for young readers, including a guide to the 1994 Winter Olympics and a biography of football great Jim Brown. He is also the coauthor of A.J. Foyt in Chelsea House's Race Car Legends: Collector's Edition series
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