advocacy
“Silence becomes a kind of crime when it operates as a cover or an encouragement to the Guilty.”
- Thomas Paine, Pennsylvania Packet, January 23, 1779
In the adversarial justice system, I promise to ensure that my clients' rights are protected and their voices heard.
Gideon v. Wainwright
Gideon was charged with burglary in state court in Florida. He could not afford an attorney. He asked the Court to appoint an attorney for him.
The Court denied his request because a criminal defendant was only entitled to court appointed counsel if he was charged with a death penalty offense.
Gideon tried his case to a jury on his own. He was convicted. Eventually his appeal - that he wrote without an attorney - reached the Supreme Court of the United States. The Court found that Gideon was indeed entitled to a court appointed attorney, as was any other criminal defendant facing a term of incarceration.
Gideon changed everything for people who are charged with criminal offenses. And when Gideon’s case was sent back for a new trial with an attorney….Gideon was acquitted.
“Reason and reflection require us to recognzie that, in our adversary system of criminal justice, any person who is haled into court, who is too poor to hire a lawyer cannot be assured a fair trial unless counsel is provided for him.”
Gideon v. Wainwright, 372 U.S. 335 (1963).