The Constitutionalization of the Right to Counsel

That recognition and offset itself is the contract of this paper.

The constitutionalization of the right to instruction had its origins in the famous Supreme d anyy decision, Powell V. Alabama, 287 U.S. 45 (1932). The wooing grew out of the "Scotsboro boy's case." In this case, seven colored youths allegedly attacked and raped two white girls. Given the subject field climate on racism, the local community was so shadowed that the defendants had to be guarded by the military for their safety. The seven blacks were all illiterate and therefore unable to deal with the intricacies of the law. After a speedy tally they were all convicted. The State Supreme hook upheld the conviction and an appeal was taken on the grounds that the defendants had been denied payable process of law.

The United States Supreme Court reversed the case on the grounds that the conviction was unconstitutionally obtained. The justices opined that the youths' illiteracy and dismay for their lives, imprisonment and other factors were vital in their decision that "(T)he need of counsel was so vital and imperative that the failure of the rill court to provide it was . . . a denial of receivable process within the ordinal Amendment" (287 U.S. at 71). The justices further decided that the ignorance of the defendants do it absolutely impossible to carry out a plausible defense; in their opinion the defendants had the constitutional r

Wall, Peter. American Government. Garden City, NY: Scotts, Foresman and Company, 1988.

By a half-dozen to three division the Supreme Court accepted Maryland's course and opined that the idea of a fair trial did not take up the appointment of counsel, except in finical circumstances that concern complex issues or, in reference to

After the Johnson V. Zerbst ruling it was hoped that the endure would apply to the states as well and that the right to retain counsel would be considered as fundamental in a trial; however, the courts refused to apply the Johnson rule to the states as exemplified by the Betts case.

Allen, Ronald. Right to Counsel. capital of Massachusetts: Little, Brown and Company, 1985.

Powell V. Alabama, where the individual was absolutely incapable of creating a feasible defense as a result of his youth, illiteracy or other special circumstances. Further, the court persisted in its statement that the Fourteenth Amendment did not incorporate the Sixth Amendment, and that it was only "in special circumstances or in connection with other elements" (Beaney 162) that to refuse any part of the Bill of Rights was also to deny due process (Woll 568).

Cheatham, Elliot. A Lawyer When Needed. New York: Columbia UP, 1963.

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