Which Supreme Court case established the right to counsel for indigent defendants?

Gideon v. Wainwright established the constitutional right to appointed counsel for indigent defendants in serious state criminal cases.

The Supreme Court ruled unanimously in 1963 that the Fourteenth Amendment requires states to provide lawyers to defendants who cannot afford them when they are charged with serious offenses. The decision applied the Sixth Amendment’s right to counsel to the states and overturned Betts v. Brady, a 1942 ruling that had allowed a more limited approach.

Clarence Earl Gideon was charged with felony breaking and entering in Florida. He asked the trial court to appoint a lawyer, but the request was denied because Florida generally appointed counsel only in capital cases. Gideon represented himself, was convicted, and petitioned the Supreme Court from prison.

The case is commonly confused with related decisions. Escobedo v. Illinois concerned access to counsel during police interrogation, while Miranda v. Arizona established warnings about custodial interrogation. Gideon concerns the guarantee of legal representation at trial for qualifying indigent defendants; later cases clarified how broadly that protection applies.