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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. How many Supreme Court decisions has Gideon read?
(a) 6.
(b) 3.
(c) None.
(d) 2.

2. What does Abe Fortas want before going to trial before representing Gideon?
(a) A big raise.
(b) A series of phone interviews with Gideon.
(c) A meeting with Gideon.
(d) A transcript of Gideon's previous trial.

3. Abe Fortas knows little of Gideon's first trial and little of _____________________.
(a) petty larceny.
(b) Gideon himself.
(c) Florida rules.
(d) Florida prisons.

4. What does Gideon say about the prison facilities for filing court documents?
(a) They are better than he imagined.
(b) They are excellent.
(c) They do not exist.
(d) They are inadequate.

5. Where does Abe Fortas practice law?
(a) Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
(b) Washington D.C.
(c) Denver, Colorado.
(d) Orlando, Florida.

Short Answer Questions

1. What legislation gives the Supreme Court Justices the freedom to decide which cases they will hear?

2. Who is the witness in Gideon's first trial who states that he saw Gideon at the poolroom on the morning of June 3?

3. Why does the Florida Attorney General say Gideon did not have the right to counsel?

4. Gideon says that his court trial violated the _____________ Amendment.

5. Why was Gideon in the hospital during this time?

Short Essay Questions

1. What issue has been on the minds of the Justices lately that gives Gideon's petition some extra attention?

2. What is meant by federalism and how could Gideon's Supreme Court case impact it?

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

4. What is Gideon's life like after he marries in 1955?

5. Describe some of Gideon's bad childhood experiences.

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

7. What is Gideon's mood as he heads into his Supreme Court trial?

8. For what crime is Gideon serving time in a Florida prison?

9. What kind of power do the Supreme Court Justices have and how do some of them feel about it?

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

(see the answer keys)

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