Gideons Trumpet Gideon's Trumpet, purporting to tell "how one man...

changed the law of the United States", actually tells a much different story: How critical representation y counsel is when one is called efore the !ourt. Gideon's plea was, of itself, unimportant. The particulars of the case simply fit the re"uired criteria, and e#emplified the issues necessary to o$erturn prior decisions. %f not Gideon $. &ainwright, one of the cases o$erturned y the !ourt's could ha$e pro$ided the appropriate circumstance. 'or Gideon, it was simply a matter of place, time, and circumstance. &ith the complications, e#ceptions, and particulars of our system of laws and statutes, it is plainly e$ident that no uninitiated layman is sufficient to defend himself against a trained, determined ad$ersary. %n criminal law, that uncomplicated layman, the accused, is e#pected to engage the might of the resources at the disposal of the State, including competent prosecutors and law enforcement agents. Until the Gideon decision, howe$er, the a solute right to counsel was regarded as only applica le in federal (urisdictions, with the se$eral states determining their own protocols for criminal proceedings. %n effect, this led to an ine"uality where y access to counsel was effecti$ely determined y a ility to pay said counsel. )umerous prior decisions indicated that a sence of counsel tended to produce un(ust trials, yet the decision in *etts $. *rady effecti$ely allowed most states to withhold counsel at their discretion. )ot until Gideon $ &ainwright did the Supreme !ourt ha$e an appeal that would allow them to surmount *etts' precedent. +ust as the law is intended to protect the interests of society as a whole, the attorney e#ists to protect the interests of the indi$idual. *y so doing, society remains reasona ly con$inced that

Campbell 2

the standards of the community will e upheld, and (ustice for whole is preser$ed. ,ccess to this assurance, pro$ided y the Si#th and 'ourteenth ,mendments and affirmed to apply to the states y Gideon $. &ainwright, are a critical structure in modern opinions of (ustice and ci$il rights. 'ull access and pro$ision to counsel, e#panded upon y later decisions, help to le$el the playing field and ring alance and e"uality to the ad$ersarial (ustice system em raced y the United States.