Right to appointed counsel

Gideon v. Wainwright

372 U.S. 335 (1963)

Decision date

March 18, 1963

Record type

U.S. Reports opinion

Source checked

September 4, 2026

InmateLink explanation

What this case helps you understand

Gideon addresses the constitutional right to appointed counsel for an indigent person facing a serious criminal charge in a covered setting, because counsel is necessary for a fair trial.

Limits to check

The right, timing, eligibility, and waiver rules depend on the type and stage of proceeding and on later decisions.
Misdemeanor, juvenile, appellate, and other settings can have additional or different rules.

Do not assume

Every proceeding has the same appointment rule or timing.
This explanation replaces a court's appointment process or advice from a qualified lawyer.

Questions to check

What charge and proceeding stage are involved?
Has the court made an indigency, eligibility, or waiver determination?

Review scope: Primary U.S. Reports record plus the listed official later-treatment anchors; not a citator or exhaustive current-law review. Reviewed September 4, 2026. This is an InmateLink explanation, not copied opinion text or legal advice.

Official primary source

Open the court record

This page identifies the official opinion record and its citation. Read the complete opinion at the official publisher before relying on it.

Open official opinion record

Publisher: U.S. Government Publishing Office · GovInfo
Official citation: 372 U.S. 335 (1963)

Current-treatment boundary

Review is intentionally not exhaustive.

InmateLink has not published a complete current-rule statement for this case. Later opinions, statutes, court rules, and state-law limits may change how a principle applies. Treat the links below as a research trail, not legal advice.

Related official treatment anchors

Alabama v. Shelton, 535 U.S. 654 (2002)

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