The ongoing struggle for criminal defendants' right to counsel.
The 60th anniversary of the Supreme Court's landmark ruling in Gideon v. Wainwright, which affirmed a constitutional right to a lawyer for criminal defendants who could not afford one, is being celebrated. The case forced states to create taxpayer-funded public defender offices. Clarence Gideon was charged with breaking into a Florida pool hall in 1961 and was denied a court-appointed lawyer in state court, represented himself, and was convicted. The ruling led to the establishment and strengthening of public defender systems in the states and expanded the right to counsel in juvenile and certain misdemeanor cases.