ABSTRACT
Gideon v. Wainwright is important because it represents one more element of the Bill of Rights that the Court incorporated to the states. The Court ruled that the right to counsel is so basic that its protection is guaranteed by the Fourteenth Amendment. Clarence Earl Gideon was a poor drifter who was accused of breaking into a bar in Panama City, FL. In Betts v. Brady, the Supreme Court ruled that states must provide representation to defendants in capital cases or in cases of special circumstances when the charges are complex or the defendant is illiterate. The acceptance of Gideon’s case meant that the Court would be reconsidering its previous ruling in Betts v. Brady.
