Gideon's Book: Revolutionizing Judicial Systems in the U.S. - Essay Sample

Introduction

The Gideon's book is a typical manifestation of the events that took place before and after the case in 1963, between Gideon and Wainwright. The Book has a vital role to play because it outlines the historical background of the Americans Supreme Court. Moreover, it is under the courtesy of this 1963 case that brought the eternal relief to criminals who had no financial potentials to secure lawyers during trials. Gideon's book also enhanced the revolution in the judicial systems found in the United States of America. Most importantly, the activities involved in Gideon's work depicted the criminal secrets that many law courts were engaging in, only to sentence criminals for lame and unjustified allegations with no precise shreds of evidence. Notwithstanding, the historical lessons obtained from the book can accurately be put into practice by the modern lawmakers and professionals to push for changes that promote fairness and justice at all levels devoid of factors such as socioeconomic statutes. In this study, significant events as stipulated in the book would be highlighted and analyzed to create a sense of meaningful interpretation concerning the landmark decision concerning Gideon vs Wainwright court hearing.

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The case scenario took place in approximately fifty years ago, in 1963, when the US supreme court later handed down one of the most significant cases in its history ever. Gideon v. Wainwright case implemented the use of 14th amendment laws in extending the 6th amendment to accord any criminal or person charged with a felony, the rights of owning a lawyer, despite their financial ability to hire one or not (Lewis, 1964). Gideon earlier got sentenced in prison for five years, after be being charged with a felony that he attempted to burglarize a pool hall in Panama City, located in Florida. Although he tried to request for a lawyer from the Florida state court, the attorneys remained firm that the law only gave them authority to appoint a lawyer for a felony who had been charged with a capital case. For Gideon's, it was not a capital case.

This happened in 1961, and so its means that Gideon filed the petition at the supreme court after spending roughly two years in prison. During this time of stay in prison, Gideon does comprehensive research on the prison library books and found an article for the 6th amendment form. It was stated that every person was viable for a lawyer. Nonetheless, Gideon remained stranded and inquisitive because the amendment did not specify who was liable or not. As a result, he decided to write a handwritten letter to the supreme court in 1963, a message that was accepted and a lawyer Fortas assigned for him. In page 120-134, Lewis states the lawyer's efforts leading to the production of the brief, as stipulated in pages 135-138 (Lewis, 1964). Fortas then prints and submits the brief to the Supreme Court. The chapter ends with a letter from Gideon thanking Fortas for his work. In support of the brief, Lewis in pages 84-94 expresses the desire from Fortas for revisiting the 6th amendment from Batt's case. In this section, Fortas states that for federalism and Incorporation of the bill of rights, a review of the 6th amendment vase is compulsory (Lewis, 1964).

The fate of the 1963 case was primarily targeting the public defender system in the USA. The origin of the case came by when Gideon-the convicted felon directed a petition letter to the US Supreme Court, where he indicated his dissatisfaction of the conviction without any single counsel representation (Lewis, 1964). Lewis further gives a reflection of the Bett v. Bardy case in 1938, which led to the documents that assisted Gideon to know the truth. Justice in the USA tends to take a different direction from the 1963 Supreme Court ruling (Lewis, 1964). Lewis, in his writing, brings to attention that there is an existence of a whole world gap between Gideon and the selected lawyer. Almost in all aspects such as education, life history and achievements, Fortas tends to be far much ahead to handle an average case that involves an ordinary felony. However, it sounds more interesting to state that devoid of these differences; the two still managed to alter the American Law, which gave felonies freedom to have a lawyer, to ensure that final convictions and sentencing decisions were made in occasions that deserved the ruling. In chapter 11, Lewis reveals an oral argument in the court, involving a question and answer session not only directed to the justices but the counsel as well (Lewis, 1964). Lewis, in the same chapter, reiterates that the layman Gideon grasped a lot of information from these arguments. After the council ruled the case in his favour, Gideon found the net trial of proving his guilt much more comfortable, and the final verdict finds him not guilty. Initially, Gideon complains of going through similar double trials, but Lewis clarifies that in the presence of Fortas, he was meant to understand the trials were no longer comparable.

Ideally, from the Lewis book, there are possibilities that the Supreme Court under the Chief Justice Earl Warren was significantly in need of a case to make this change. This is confirmed by the immediate validation of the handwritten letter in pencil by Gideon, and the decision to assign him a highly constitutional lawyer Fortas. The book seems beneficial for anyone who is involved in a legal system act. Nevertheless, for Lawyers, Lewis raises the alarm regarding the need for constitutional protection of the individuals who often get maltreated in court systems. It also helps judges to reflect that every case holds a magnitude and must be granted equal considerations and attention to the pro se litigants, by carefully reviewing the laws and making constitutional-based accurate decisions. In summary, Lewis should remind everyone of the roles that judicial arms play in the American system of government.

Reference

Lewis, A. (1964). Gideon's Trumpet. Retrieved from https://read.amazon.com/?asin=B005IEH7XG