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Powell V Birmingham Jail Case Study
The Significance of the Right to Effective Counsel in a Criminal Case and Powell v. Alabama
The right to counsel is a fundamental common law principle that aims to set a fair criminal trial. The right to have the assistance of counsel for defence is the right of a criminal defendant to have a lawyer assist in his defence, even if he cannot afford one. This right comes from a variety of sources, the first one being the Sixth Amendment to the United States Constitution, which is the part of the United States Bill of Rights that sets forth rights related to criminal prosecutions. 1

The Sixth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution reads:

“In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial …show more content…
Alabama are a clear statement of the importance of the defendant’s right to counsel in a criminal proceeding. The right to counsel has been the source of much controversy within the U.S. law over the past decades. However, in the light of the words of Justice Sutherland, the failure of the trial court to appoint counsel was found a denial of due process. The Powell case holding declared that the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment required that state courts give defendants an opportunity to obtain counsel for defendants in all capital cases who are not able to afford one and an attorney free of charge in noncapital …show more content…
Powell v. Alabama 100 U.S. 1 224 Ala. 524, 531, 540, reversed. [Available at: http://www.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/historics/USSC_CR_0287_0045_ZS.html (Accessed: 9 November 2013)
Del Carmen, R. (2010). Criminal Procedure: Law and Practice: Law And Practice. Ebook. [Online] Available at: http://books.google.com.tr/books?id=9ctbsWu6vzAC&pg=PA464&lpg=PA464&dq=importance+of+right+to+counsel+in+a+criminal+case+powell+alabama&source=bl&ots=UCzbwHuwXk&sig=i8ogNYxhhGHIDYm0bnuz8FvnlNU&hl=en&sa=X&ei=0Rt-UsvfA82KswalyICICg&ved=0CCMQ6AEwADgK#v=onepage&q=importance%20of%20right%20to%20counsel%20in%20a%20criminal%20case%20powell%20alabama&f=falsehttp://books.google.com.tr/books?id=9ctbsWu6vzAC&pg=PA464&lpg=PA464&dq=importance+of+right+to+counsel+in+a+criminal+case+powell+alabama&source=bl&ots=UCzbwHuwXk&sig=i8ogNYxhhGHIDYm0bnuz8FvnlNU&hl=en&sa=X&ei=0Rt-UsvfA82KswalyICICg&ved=0CCMQ6AEwADgK#v=onepage&q=importance%20of%20right%20to%20counsel%20in%20a%20criminal%20case%20powell%20alabama&f=false
Mosher, J. (2013). ‘Understanding Powell v. Alabama’ Sixth Amendment Center, 17 January [Online]. Available at: http://sixthamendment.org/understanding-powell-v-alabama/ (Accessed: 9 November 2013)
Powell v. Alabama [Online] http://kids.laws.com/powell-v-alabama (Accessed: 9 November
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