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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. Attorneys should view questions as _______________________.

2. What did retired Justice Frankfurter say about Gideon vs. Wainwright?

3. The Supreme Court Justices are aware that many of the cases they hear are the result of __________________.

4. How many people other than Jacob are on Jacob's law team in the Gideon case?

5. What is the case in which the the opinion indicates that federal defendants should always have the right to an attorney?

Short Essay Questions

1. What change on the Supreme Court bench seems fortunate for Gideon's case?

2. What is the next step after the Supreme Court rules in Gideon's favor?

3. Who is Bruce Robert Jacob and what is his role in Gideon's Supreme Court trial?

4. What does Fortas believe would be the surest way to get assenting opinions from the Justices in Gideon's case?

5. What flaw does Fortas present in determining decisions on a case-by-case basis?

6. What is the premise of the brief written by George D. Mentz of the Alabama Attorney General's office which supports Jacob's case?

7. How could Gideon vs. Wainwright overthrow the Betts vs. Brady decision that was enacted just 20 years prior?

8. What does John Hart Ely discover about Florida cases while doing research for Gideon's Supreme Court case?

9. What major points stem from revising the method of assigning attorneys who are not compensated?

10. What is the premise of the Betts vs. Brady case in 1942?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

What is the point of view of the book? What are the benefits and the limitations to this particular point of view? Explain how the book would have changed if it had been written by one of the attorneys or even Gideon himself.

Essay Topic 2

Discuss the irony of Gideon's not being able to ever hold a job very long in his life yet having the tenacity to hand write pages and pages of his petition to the Supreme Court. What gave Gideon his inspiration to keep pushing forward? How would Gideon's life have been different if he had applied this same tenacity to making a decent living and caring for his family? Explain.

Essay Topic 3

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?

(see the answer keys)

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