Clarence Earl Gideon was tried and found guilty of burglary in 1961 in a circuit court near Panama City. He was poor, and despite asking for legal counsel, was denied that request. At the time, Florida was one of 13 states that did not guarantee legal counsel for all defendants in state court proceedings regardless of their ability to pay. The right was guaranteed in federal court. Gideon petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court that he had been unfairly treated in violation of his 14th Amendment rights. The Court picked up his case, ultimately ruling in his favor and requiring that defendants in all U.S courtrooms, including state courts, have access to counsel. Bruce Jacob represented the State of Florida before the Supreme Court in the Gideon case and joins us to discuss his upcoming book on the proceedings, "The Gideon Case: Inside the Supreme Court's Historic Right to Counsel Decision."
Image: Florida Archives
Craig Pittman is the award-winning author of Oh, Florida!: How America’s Weirdest State Influences the Rest of the Country, The Scent of Scandal, Cat Tale, Manatee Insanity and The State You’re In, and co-author of Paving Paradise. Born in Pensacola, he graduated from Troy State University in Alabama, where his muckraking work for the student paper prompted an agitated dean to label him “the most destructive force on campus.” Since then he has covered a variety of newspaper beats and quite a few natural disasters, including hurricanes, wildfires and the Florida Legislature.
