Betts v. Brady

E57400

United States Supreme Court case criminal procedure case

Betts v. Brady was a 1942 U.S. Supreme Court decision that held indigent defendants in state criminal cases were not automatically entitled to court-appointed counsel, a rule later overturned by Gideon v. Wainwright.

Aliases (1)

opinion in Betts v. Brady (dissent) ×1

Statements (45)

Predicate	Object
instanceOf	United States Supreme Court case → criminal procedure case →
areaOfLaw	constitutional law → criminal law → criminal procedure →
citation	316 U.S. 455 →
constitutionalProvisionInterpreted	Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution → Sixth Amendment to the United States Constitution →
country	United States →
court	Supreme Court of the United States →
decisionDate	1942-06-01 →
defendantType	indigent defendant →
dissentingJustices	Frank Murphy → Hugo L. Black → William O. Douglas NERFINISHED →
dissentingOpinionBy	Hugo L. Black →
doctrine	special circumstances rule for appointment of counsel →
fullName	Betts v. Brady →
holding	Appointment of counsel in state criminal cases is required only under special circumstances → Indigent defendants in state felony cases are not automatically entitled to court-appointed counsel →
impact	Limited the right to appointed counsel in state courts until 1963 →
jurisdiction	United States →
languageOfProceedings	English →
laterCharacterization	inconsistent with fundamental fairness under the Fourteenth Amendment →
legalIssue	Fourteenth Amendment Due Process Clause → Sixth Amendment → right to counsel →
majorityJustices	Felix Frankfurter → Harlan F. Stone → James F. Byrnes → Owen J. Roberts → Robert H. Jackson → Stanley F. Reed →
majorityOpinionBy	Owen J. Roberts →
overruledBy	Gideon v. Wainwright →
overruledInYear	1963 →
pageInUnitedStatesReports	455 →
precedentStatus	overruled precedent →
relatedCase	Gideon v. Wainwright → Johnson v. Zerbst → Powell v. Alabama →
shortDescription	1942 U.S. Supreme Court decision restricting automatic right to counsel for indigent defendants in state criminal cases →
stateParty	Maryland →
volumeInUnitedStatesReports	316 →
yearDecided	1942 →

Referenced by (3)

Subject (surface form when different)	Predicate
Betts v. Brady →	fullName
Hugo L. Black ("opinion in Betts v. Brady (dissent)") →	notableWork
Gideon v. Wainwright →	overruledCase