LEGISLATIVE RESOLUTION commemorating the 50th Anniversary of the United
States Supreme Court's decision Gideon v. Wainwright holding the 14th
amendment to the Constitution requires states to provide counsel to
indigent criminal defendants

WHEREAS, March 18, 2013, marks the 50th Anniversary of the U.S. Supreme
Court's landmark decision in Gideon v. Wainwright, 372 U.S. 335 (1963);
and
WHEREAS, On January 8, 1962, the Clerk of the U.S. Supreme Court
received a handwritten petition from prisoner number 003826 seeking
certiorari to the Supreme Court based on the claim that the prisoner had
been denied his constitutional right to counsel; and
WHEREAS, That petition began the historic case of Gideon v. Wainwright
in which the Court overturned Clarence Earl Gideon's conviction and
unanimously held that the 14th amendment to the Constitution requires
states to provide counsel to defendants in criminal cases if they are
unable to afford an attorney; and
WHEREAS, On March 18, 1963, in its unanimous opinion written by
Justice Hugo Black, the court held "...any person haled into court, who
is too poor to hire a lawyer, cannot be assured a fair trial unless
counsel is provided for him...lawyers in criminal courts are necessi-
ties, not luxuries."; and
WHEREAS, Following this historic decision, a new trial was ordered,
and with a new lawyer appointed, Gideon was acquitted; and
WHEREAS, This decision established that the right to competent counsel
in a criminal proceeding is a constitutional right belonging to every
American; and
WHEREAS, This decision established a 50 year tradition of zealous
representation of indigent criminal defendants led by the legal aid
societies, public defenders, and pro bono defense counsels of New York;
now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED, That this Legislative Body pause in its deliberations to
celebrate the landmark case of Gideon v. Wainwright, and its holding
that advances our fundamental right to due process and equal justice
under the law for all New Yorkers.