Gideon's Trumpet
Gideon’s Trumpet: Book Review
Chapter One:
Chapter one opens with the origination of Clarence Gideon’s request for an appeal to the United States Supreme Court. The letter he wrote to the Court was full of legal jargon so the Justices knew that he must have read the rules to the court process of appealing the case in question. He knew these rules because he had applied for an appeal to the court once before, in which he did not include a pauper’s affidavit and the court sent him a copy of the rules and a sample of the affidavit he originally needed to file. He wanted the United States Supreme Court to let him free since he was denied his due process right to a court appointed attorney because he was too poor to be able to provide counsel for himself. The Supreme Court had already had a case 20 years before, Betts v. Brady , which states that only in special circumstances does a defendant receive court appointed counsel. The circumstances were as follows; illiteracy, ignorance, youth, or mental illness. He did not qualify under any of those reasons. The chapter ends with the author summarizing the Florida court transcripts from the case The State of Florida v. Clarence Earl Gideon. After the judge announced the case and got the proceedings started, he asked if both sides of were ready to start the trial. The State answered “yes” and Gideon replied “no” then asked for a court appointed attorney. The judge stated that only persons on capital cases may receive this luxury. Gideon was then charged and put in jail after the court made sure the transcript stated everything that Gideon had said and that the court had made him aware of his rights for the situation.
Chapter Two:
In this chapter the issue at hand involves the jurisdiction of the federal and state courts. What the Supreme Court can and cannot do. It is explained that the reach is limited to only federal laws. Stating that when a state has decided that a person acted in a way that violates state
Chapter One:
Chapter one opens with the origination of Clarence Gideon’s request for an appeal to the United States Supreme Court. The letter he wrote to the Court was full of legal jargon so the Justices knew that he must have read the rules to the court process of appealing the case in question. He knew these rules because he had applied for an appeal to the court once before, in which he did not include a pauper’s affidavit and the court sent him a copy of the rules and a sample of the affidavit he originally needed to file. He wanted the United States Supreme Court to let him free since he was denied his due process right to a court appointed attorney because he was too poor to be able to provide counsel for himself. The Supreme Court had already had a case 20 years before, Betts v. Brady , which states that only in special circumstances does a defendant receive court appointed counsel. The circumstances were as follows; illiteracy, ignorance, youth, or mental illness. He did not qualify under any of those reasons. The chapter ends with the author summarizing the Florida court transcripts from the case The State of Florida v. Clarence Earl Gideon. After the judge announced the case and got the proceedings started, he asked if both sides of were ready to start the trial. The State answered “yes” and Gideon replied “no” then asked for a court appointed attorney. The judge stated that only persons on capital cases may receive this luxury. Gideon was then charged and put in jail after the court made sure the transcript stated everything that Gideon had said and that the court had made him aware of his rights for the situation.
Chapter Two:
In this chapter the issue at hand involves the jurisdiction of the federal and state courts. What the Supreme Court can and cannot do. It is explained that the reach is limited to only federal laws. Stating that when a state has decided that a person acted in a way that violates state