For most of American history, whether a criminal defendant got a lawyer often came down to money. That changed gradually, case by case, over the twentieth century — and understanding that history helps explain why public defenders exist, and why the work matters.
Powell v. Alabama (1932) was one of the first cracks in the old rule. The Supreme Court held that defendants facing the death penalty in state court had a right to appointed counsel, at least in capital cases, under the Due Process Clause.
Johnson v. Zerbst (1938) extended the right to counsel to federal criminal defendants more broadly, holding that a federal court’s failure to provide a lawyer for an indigent defendant could void a conviction.
Betts v. Brady (1942) briefly slowed this expansion. The Court held that states weren’t required to appoint counsel in every case, only where special circumstances made a fair trial impossible without a lawyer — a case-by-case standard that proved difficult to apply consistently.
Gideon v. Wainwright (1963) overturned Betts and became the case most people associate with the right to counsel. Clarence Earl Gideon, tried without a lawyer for breaking into a Florida pool hall, was convicted and sent to prison. Writing from his cell, he petitioned the Supreme Court himself. The Court ruled that the Sixth Amendment right to counsel applies to state felony prosecutions through the Fourteenth Amendment — meaning states must provide a lawyer to defendants who can’t afford one. This is the case that made public defender offices a practical necessity nationwide.
In re Gault (1967) extended due process protections, including the right to counsel, to juveniles facing delinquency proceedings.
Argersinger v. Hamlin (1972) extended the right to counsel beyond felonies to any misdemeanor case where the defendant faces the possibility of jail time, not just serious felony charges.
Gideon’s promise is still a work in progress. Public defender offices nationwide are chronically underfunded and carry heavy caseloads. The right to a lawyer was established over sixty years ago; making that right meaningful in practice — with enough time, investigation, and preparation on every case — remains the daily work of public defenders across the country, including here in LaPorte County.
That history is part of why I take my public defender caseload as seriously as I do. The right to counsel isn’t just a rule from an old case — it’s a promise that has to be kept one case at a time.
— Hyrum LaTurner, LaTurner Law, LLC