Video: 'Why You Get a Lawyer If You Can't Afford One | Gideon v. Wainwright'

(Monday, March 18, 1963) — The U.S. Supreme Court, in Gideon v. Wainwright, ruled unanimously today that state courts were required to provide legal counsel to criminal defendants who could not afford to hire an attorney on their own.

The decision, one of the most important ever made by the Supreme Court in the criminal law field, was provoked by Clarence Earl Gideon, a 52-year-old inmate of Florida State Prison.

Video: 'Gideon v Wainwright Explained in 5 Minutes: US History and Government Review'

Gideon was convicted of breaking and entering the Bay Harbor poolroom in Panama City, Fla., with intent to commit petty larceny. He asked for a lawyer at his trial but was turned down.

The Florida Supreme Court rejected a habeas corpus petition from Gideon. Then he sent a handwritten petition to the United States Supreme Court; which agreed to hear the case.