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| Photo by:Clarence Earl Gideon Changing Legal History,Youtube |
Around the world, in various
jails, innocent people are suffering for crimes they did not commit. Majority
of this people did not have a lawyer to represent them in court due to lack of
resources. Having a lawyer to handle a
matter for an accused person in court is almost considered a luxury only
accessible to the very rich yet it is a necessity to anyone who has to face an
accuser in court especially in an adversarial system where a judgment is made
depending on the evidence disclosed before the court. The accuser/complainant
is normally represented by a prosecutor who is a qualified lawyer employed and
remunerated by the government. The prosecutor will argue the case against the
accused. The accused on the other hand, if he has the resources will hire a lawyer
who will represent him. If he is poor he will have to represent himself.
This poor accused person will
have to put up a defense against this competent prosecutor, and in some cases
the accused maybe uneducated. The accused may not understand the law of
evidence and the legalese terms, inadmissibility of hearsay, incompetent
evidence, may lack skill and knowledge to emphasize his innocence and in worst
case scenario may not understand the charges and penalties leveled against him.
In some instances, the intimidation nature of court may cause the accused to be
anxious and confused and chances to get a fair trial are nil. So by the end of
the day it is a legal battle between Goliath and David and in this case Goliath
often gets his vengeance.
Charge, tried and condemned to
a 5 year jail term for a crime he did not commit Mr. Earl Gideon was outraged.
As he sat in the jail he thought of his next move. He had just received a reply
from Florida Supreme court denying him an appeal he had made arguing that he
did not receive proper legal representation. He had tried all means to get
justice. During the trial he had begged the judge to appoint an attorney to represent
him since he was too poor to afford one, but the court had rejected his plea.
He represented himself to the best of his ability, and after all his effort, here
he was in jail.
He decided this time he will
petition the United States Supreme Court for his appeal. He sat down, took a
pencil and paper and made use of the Prison Library and wrote a letter to the
Supreme Court. The letter reached the Supreme Court, in the midst of the so
many letters the Supreme Court receives per day, his crude petition was read
and the court found merit in his plea.
The Supreme Court appointed an
attorney to represent Gideon’s petition before it and days letter the Court
gave a determination that “…the assistance of counsel… is essential for a fair
trial and due process of law regardless of the circumstance… and Equality of
justice in courts should never depend on a person’s wealth or lack of
resources.”
This judgment was a system shaker;
it caused a disturbance in the judicial system which would have gone on
undisturbed if Gideon had not taken the effort to write the petition. Due to
this judgment more than 2,000 individuals who were jailed without proper
representation were freed from jail. This 2,000 people would be just a statistics
of innocent people suffering in jail if it was not for Gideon’s action.
In Gideon’s case, a retrial was
ordered. This time an appointed attorney was appointed at government expense.
The retrial took about Five months; he was found innocent and acquitted. He
walked out of jail a free man and joined a world that had changed completely
due to his actions.
Through this case, equality
before the law was extended to require parties before a judge to be equally
represented; an accused with no resources was entitled to have a guiding hand
and access to counsel at every step of the legal proceeding.
The noble idea of equality
before the law should not be pegged on the ground of who is endowed by
resources. Everyone regardless of his economic circumstances ought to enjoy
this guaranteed right. Lack of representation can be considered as offensive to
the common and fundamental ideals of fairness. We have to embrace equal
representation as a fundamental principle of liberty and justice which lie at
the base of all our civil and political institutions.
A person may ask a profound
question. What if criminals get proper representation and fail to face justice
yet they indeed committed the offence? In the words of John Adams, the answer may be
that “We are to look upon it as more beneficial, that many guilty persons
should escape unpunished, than one innocent person should suffer. The reason
is, because it’s of more importance to community, that innocence should be
protected, than it is, that guilt should be punished; for guilt and crimes are
so frequent in the world, that all of them cannot be punished; and many times
they happen in such a manner, that it is not of much consequence to the public,
whether they are punished or not. But when innocence itself, is brought to the
bar and condemned, especially to die, the subject will exclaim, it is
immaterial to me, whether I behave well or ill; for virtue itself, is no
security. And if such a sentiment as this, should take place in the mind of the
subject, there would be an end to all security what so ever.” In addition, the
more parties are properly represented the better judgments the courts will
deliver and value of justice will be valued in the society.
The Gideon’s case also led to
the establishment of the Office of Public Defenders. The Public Defenders were
lawyers who were to defend people unable to afford an advocate. This Idea of
Public Defender, has developed in almost every country in the world and in some
countries it has been incorporated in the constitution that a person must be
represented by counsel when appearing before a judge. This has changed the face
of justice in many corners of the world.
The actions Of Gideon show that
courageous efforts done by a person hungry for justice in one corner of the
world have a direct impact in another part of the world. In the words of Robert
F. Kennedy he said “Each time a man
stands up for an ideal, or acts to improve the lot of others, or strikes out
against injustice, he sends forth a tiny ripple of hope, and crossing each
other from a million different centers of energy and daring, those ripples
build a current which can sweep down the mightiest walls of oppression and
resistance.”
So,
in any unjust position you find yourself or you see others in may you be
proactive and shake the system and create your ripples and together with
ripples from another corner they will bring down the walls of injustice and
humanity will leap forward and forge a new path.
