<Tr> <Td_colspan="2"> This case overturned a previous ruling or rulings </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td_colspan="2"> Betts v. Brady (1942) </Td> </Tr> <P> Gideon v. Wainwright, 372 U.S. 335 (1963), is a landmark case in United States Supreme Court history . In it, the Supreme Court unanimously ruled that states are required under the Sixth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution to provide an attorney to defendants in criminal cases who are unable to afford their own attorneys . The case extended the right to counsel, which had been found under the Fifth and Sixth Amendments to impose requirements on the federal government, by imposing those requirements upon the states as well . </P> <P> Between midnight and 8: 00 a.m. on June 3, 1961, a burglary occurred at the Bay Harbor Pool Room in Panama City, Florida . An unknown person broke a door, smashed a cigarette machine and a record player, and stole money from a cash register . Later that day, a witness reported that he had seen Clarence Earl Gideon in the poolroom at around 5: 30 that morning, leaving with a wine bottle and money in his pockets . Based on this accusation alone, the police arrested Gideon and charged him with breaking and entering with intent to commit petty larceny . </P>

In the case of gideon v. wainwright 1963 the court ruled that