Gideon V Wainwright Case Analysis

The year 2013 marked the fifty-year anniversary of Gideon v. Wainwright in the United States (Patton, 2013). The Gideon decision prompted the enactment of the Criminal Justice Act of 1964, which gives those accused of a criminal offense the right to a public defender despite their ability to pay (Patton, 2013). Those accused of a criminal offense who can afford to pay for an attorney can elect to retain private counsel. The difference between public versus private counsel is what entity the lawyers work for. The Federal or state government, for example, employs a public defender. A private defender is an attorney that works for a privately-owned practice. Although the goal of Gideon was to ensure that all defendants, regardless of socioeconomic

criminal justice system is considered to be adversarial and complex; that is there are two sides essentially competing for victory amidst a maze of multiple potential legal ramifications (Patton, 2013). Gideon was designed to ensure that every defendant involved in the process received a fair trial. Since the government hires lawyers to put defendants on trial, it is only fair that defendants receive legal representation in order to ensure the trial is balanced on both sides (Patton, 2013). The reality is that since the Gideon ruling, the number of cases going to trial has substantially decreased. In 1963, the number of federal criminal defense cases that went to trial was at fifteen percent. As of 2013, that number has dropped to 2.7 percent (Patton, 2013). This is not a reflection of an overall reduction in crime or an overall reduction in the number of charges found to have enough evidence to proceed to trial, but an increase in the amount of plea bargains (Patton,

It is more difficult for governments to provide adequate salaries to public defense lawyers and the result is that these lawyers are often more inexperienced (Fairfax, 2013). Since the amount of defendants who are unable to afford private counsel has increased, public defense lawyers are also overworked. It is not uncommon for public defense lawyers to juggle hundreds of cases simultaneously (Fairfax, 2013). In other words, the system is unable to handle the volume and has therefore resorted to avoiding the trial process whenever