Part one of term paper
United States Supreme Court cases are argued and decided on Constitutional grounds. All arguments and decisions are based on interpretations of the original Constitution and, more often, on Constitutional amendments. In June 1961, Clarence Gideon was arrested and charged with breaking and entering in Bay Harbor. He was tried in a Florida Ci ...

Part two of term paper
... might be imposed]. When the Florida courts denied his claim, he went to the Supreme Court. In his prison he submitted a petition, handwritten in pencil, arguing that Florida had ignored a rule laid down by the Supreme Court: “ that all citizens tried for a felony crime should have aid of counsel.” Oral arguments were heard on January 15,1962 and the decision was announced on March 18, 1963. However, Gideon was wrong. The rule applied by the Supreme Court at that time was in fact exactly th ...