Betts v. Brady
1942 United States Supreme Court case / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Betts v. Brady, 316 U.S. 455 (1942), was a landmark case decided by the United States Supreme Court in 1942. The case had to do with "indigent" (poor) people who were on trial for crimes, but did not have enough money to pay for a lawyer. The Court ruled that a person did not need a lawyer to get a fair trial. They also ruled that the states did not have to pay for free lawyers for poor defendants.
Quick Facts Betts v. Brady, Argued April 13–14, 1942 Decided June 1, 1942 ...
Betts v. Brady | |
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Argued April 13–14, 1942 Decided June 1, 1942 | |
Full case name | Betts v. Brady |
Citations | 316 U.S. 455 (more) 62 S. Ct. 1252; 86 L. Ed. 1595; 1942 U.S. LEXIS 489 |
Prior history | None |
Subsequent history | Gideon v. Wainwright |
Holding | |
States do not have to assign free lawyers to poor people who are not charged with capital crimes. | |
Court membership | |
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Case opinions | |
Majority | Roberts, joined by Stone, Reed, Frankfurter, Byrnes, Jackson |
Dissent | Black, joined by Douglas, Murphy |
Laws applied | |
Sixth and Fourteenth Amendments | |
Overruled by | |
Gideon v. Wainwright (1963) |
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In 1963, the Court reversed its decision in Betts when it decided Gideon v. Wainwright, 372 U.S. 335 (1963).