Download or read book Gideon V. Wainwright written by G. S. Prentzas and published by Infobase Publishing. This book was released on 2009 with total page 121 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Unable to pay for a lawyer, a man arrested for breaking and entering was forced to defend himself in court, resulting in a sentence of five years in prison. Was this fair? That question took Gideon v. Wainwright all the way to the Supreme Court, where it was decided that state courts should be required to provide attorneys to defendants in criminal cases who cannot afford their own. As stated by Justice Hugo Black, Lawyers in criminal courts are necessities, not luxuries. Gideon v. Wainwright is a vivid account that delves into the judicial process that went into this landmark case.