For Clarence Earl Gideon, who spent much of his early life homeless and his entire life in poverty, the criminal theft prosecution that made him a household name was just one of many legal challenges. A low-wage worker, Gideon undoubtedly experienced some of the exploitation typical of that job sector. In his autobiography, Gideon said that the low wages that he received as an electrician forced him to rely on gambling proceeds to maintain his marginal existence. On the family side, his six children were taken by child welfare authorities.
The case that bears Gideon’s name helped resolve his criminal law issues. When Gideon was retried with a government-appointed counsel following the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling, he was acquitted. But despite these protections on the criminal side, when low-income individuals like Gideon face civil legal challenges such as housing, family and income insecurity, or in some cases even deportation, affordable legal assistance is seldom available. As a matter of statute or under their own constitutions, some states provide legal representation in some cases, particularly those involving termination of parental rights. While it is possible to discern a slow, incremental expansion of the civil right to counsel on the state level, the law in this area remains a bare patchwork.
