Gideon v. Wainwright · ¶26

That the Sixth Amendment requires appointment of counsel in “all criminal prosecutions” is clear, both from the language of the Amendment and from this Court’s interpretation. See Johnson v. Zerbst, 304 U. S. 458 (1938). It is equally clear from the above cases, all decided after Betts v. Brady, 316 U. S. 455 (1942), that the Fourteenth Amendment requires such appointment in all prosecutions for capital crimes. The Court’s decision today, then, does no more than erase a distinction which has no basis in logic and an increasingly eroded basis in authority. In Kinsella v. United States ex rel. Singleton, 361 U. S. 234 (1960), we specifically rejected any constitutional distinction between capital and noncapital offenses as regards congressional power to provide for court-martial trials of civilian dependents of armed forces personnel. Having previously held that civilian dependents could…

U. S. Reports, bound volume
U. S. Reports, volume 372, at 335 (Library of Congress) · transcription: Caselaw Access Project
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