Article: One poor man's legacy. (Clarence Gideon)

After Mohammed Salameh's arrest in the World Trade Center bombing, a public defender emerged as the Jordanian's legal adviser. Attorneys for indigent defendants usually play less prominent roles. But the very fact that they are available to the poor at all and play such a crucial role in the justice apparatus is a tribute to a handwritten plea from a man named Clarence Earl Gideon. Arrested in 1961 for stealing coins and alcohol from a Panama City, Fla., pool hall, Gideon could not afford a lawyer. After he was convicted and sent to prison for five years, he mailed an appeal to the Supreme Court. Thirty years ago this week, the justices used Gideon's plight to declare ...

Related newspaper, magazine, and journal articles:

 
 
Newsweek Harper's Magazine The Washington Post Chicago Tribune Crain's Chicago Business PRNewswire Pediatric News The Nation Advertising Age The Economist (US) A FREE trial gives you access to over 80 million articles! Access over 6,500 publications with a FREE trial!