Betts v. Brady

Betts v. Brady
Supreme Court of the United States
Argued April 13–14, 1942
Decided June 1, 1942
Full case nameBetts v. Brady
Citations316 U.S. 455 (more)
62 S. Ct. 1252; 86 L. Ed. 1595; 1942 U.S. LEXIS 489
Case history
PriorNone
Holding
Where a man is tried for robbery, due process of law does not demand that Maryland furnish counsel to an indigent defendant.
Court membership
Chief Justice
Harlan F. Stone
Associate Justices
Owen Roberts · Hugo Black
Stanley F. Reed · Felix Frankfurter
William O. Douglas · Frank Murphy
James F. Byrnes · Robert H. Jackson
Case opinions
MajorityRoberts, joined by Stone, Reed, Frankfurter, Byrnes, Jackson
DissentBlack, joined by Douglas, Murphy
Laws applied
U.S. Const. amends. VI, XIV
Overruled by
Gideon v. Wainwright (1963)

Betts v. Brady, 316 U.S. 455 (1942), was a landmark United States Supreme Court case that denied counsel to indigent defendants prosecuted by a state. The reinforcement that such a case is not to be reckoned as denial of fundamental due process was famously overruled by Gideon v. Wainwright.[1] In the dissent, Justice Hugo Black famously opined that "A practice cannot be reconciled with "common and fundamental ideas of fairness and right which subjects innocent men to increased dangers of conviction merely because of their poverty."[2]

  1. ^ "Betts v. Brady | law case". Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved June 17, 2021.
  2. ^ Moonan, Joan (January 1, 1942). "Constitutional Law - Due Process of Law - Denial of Counsel to Indigent Defendants in State Criminal Trials". Marquette Law Review. 27 (1): 34.