Why was Gideon v. Wainwright so important?

Summarize court cases: Powell v Alabama, betts v Brady, Gideon v wainwright.

• Answer:

  Powell v. Alabama 287 U.S. 45 (1932) was a US Supreme Court decision which determined defendant must be given access to counsel. Betts v. Brady, was a landmark US Supreme Court case that denied counsel to indigent defendants when prosecuted by a state. Gideon v. Wainwright, 372 U.S. 335 (1963), is a landmark case in United States Supreme Court history. In it the Supreme Court unanimously ruled that state courts are required under the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution to provide counsel in criminal cases to represent defendants who are unable to afford to pay their own attorneys.