Which court case established the right to counsel in criminal cases?

The establishment of the right to counsel in criminal cases is fundamentally linked to the case of Gideon v. Wainwright. This landmark decision, delivered by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1963, held that the Sixth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, which guarantees the right to counsel, is applicable to state courts through the Fourteenth Amendment's Due Process Clause.

In this case, Clarence Earl Gideon was charged with a felony in a Florida state court. When he requested that the court appoint an attorney to represent him, his request was denied based on the state law at the time, which only provided for court-appointed counsel in capital cases. Gideon represented himself at trial, was convicted, and subsequently appealed his conviction to the Supreme Court. The Court ruled unanimously that the right to counsel is a fundamental right essential to a fair trial, thereby requiring states to provide legal counsel to defendants who cannot afford it.

This ruling significantly expanded the rights of defendants in the American judicial system and underscored the importance of legal representation in ensuring due process. Other options do not pertain directly to the right to counsel; for example, Miranda v. Arizona relates specifically to the rights of individuals during police interrogation, rather than the provision of counsel itself