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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. Gideon says that prisoners have ___________ contact with attorneys?

2. Why does Gideon say he needs to get out of prison?

3. Who is the clerk who receives Gideon's Supreme Court petition?

4. How do some of the Supreme Court Justices consider their power?

5. Why does Gideon's family not qualify for welfare?

Short Essay Questions

1. What is the famous 1940s case whose precedent denied Gideon an attorney at his criminal trial?

2. What major inadequacies does Fortas discover in the transcripts of Gideon's criminal trial?

3. Do the Supreme Court Justices get to decide which cases they will hear?

4. What incriminating testimony had been provided by the prosecution's witness, Henry Cook, during Gideon's criminal trial?

5. What is the seeming difference between how the Supreme Court views indigence and how Gideon was treated in the lower court?

6. What is the process of a Supreme Court petition?

7. What is the typical course for a case to reach the Supreme Court?

8. What role has Gideon assumed while in prison regarding helping some of the other inmates?

9. For what is Abe Fortas already known regarding influencing the Supreme Court to expand a certain ruling?

10. What sentence does Gideon receive for the petty larceny charge?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Explain the role of indigent men with diminished intelligence in the South in the 1960s. What precedents do they feel compelled to follow? What restrictions do they have? Do they have any freedoms that 21st century men do not have?

Essay Topic 2

Describe the overall settings for the story. What is important about each setting as it is revealed? What is the time period of the story? How important is the time period to the attitudes and issues of the people?

Essay Topic 3

Define the Betts vs. Brady ruling. Why was it essentially unchallenged for 20 years? What happened to American critical thought in the years 1942-1962 that made it possible for Gideon's petition to be heard at the Supreme Court level? What was happening in the culture of America that almost demanded that Gideon's petition be heard? Explain.

(see the answer keys)

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