U.S. Supreme Court,
Criminal
Mar. 18, 2013
Righteous outcome, constitutional hero
In prison, using a pencil Clarence Gideon drafted a petition challenging the judge's refusal to appoint him a lawyer - and ended up saving countless innocents from wrongful conviction.
Konrad Moore
Public Defender, Kern County Public Defender's Office
Who is America's greatest constitutional hero? It's an academically insoluble question with Washington, Lincoln and Jefferson all ranking highly. Who is the most anonymous? Clarence Earl Gideon.
Henry David Thoreau famously wrote, "Most men lead lives of quiet desperation and go to the grave with the song still in them."
Clarence Gideon was a poster child for the first part of the line. He unimpressively quit school after the eighth grade and ran away to ride the rail...
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