Court Cases invlolving the Sixth Amendment

Gideon was arrested for illegally entering a pool house and stealing wine and money. All the cases obtained there origins form someone being arrested.

Gideon sentenced to a maximum of 5 years in prison.

During this time period the Supreme Court heard Gideon's case regarding the Sixth Amendment. The court ruled in a 7-0 opinion that the state of michigan did violate Gideon's rights and the accused should have access to a lawyer. This case ensured that people will have the right to a lawyer when poor and sentenced to prison time. Out of my three cases, this was the only successful one for the defendant.

Scott was arrested and sent to court where he could not afford a lawyer. Scott was fined only $50 for his crime. Illinois was not legally obligated to provide a lawyer due to low degree of punishment.

In a 5-4 decision the Supreme Court ruled that the state of Illinois did not violate Mr. Scott's right's. Mr. Scott was not entitled to a lawyer due to him having the maximum penalty of a small fine. This case had some similarities with the first case because they both dealt with the Sixth and Fourteenth Amendment. They differ due to Scott losing his case with Illinois.

Ventris and his girlfriend broke into Hicks home and killed him.

The Supreme Court heard Ventris case and ruled that the State of Kansas did not violate his Constitutional rights. Ventris made a confession whilst in prison and Ventis argued that it should have been invalid due to him not having a lawyer. The Court ruled that Ventris's rights were not violated. This case was similar to Scott v Illinois due to both states not infringing on the Sixth Amendment. The aspect that all related these cases was the argument over the Sixth Amendments right to counsel.