Did you know that many of the laws that we now observe and follow were the result of issues presented by ordinary citizens like you, citizens who were faced with a challenge, faced with a legal quandary that could impact legal reasoning and authority for years to come? Citizens like you, who overcame fear and found the courage to stand tall and fight for justice in the ways to his or her avail, and who changed some of the most pivotal rules and laws of the criminal justice system. For example, there is the case of Mr. Clarence Earl Gideon, Gideon v. Wainwright, 372 U.S. 335 (1963). In 1961, Panama City, Florida, Mr. Gideon was charged with breaking and entering a pool hall. He appeared in court without being represented by a lawyer. While standing before the court, he asked the judge to appoint him a lawyer. At the time of Mr. Gideon's arrest, appointed counsel was only permitted for defendants charged with capital offenses. These are crimes that are punishable by death or life imprisonment. Mr. Gideon proceeded to trial, representing himself. He made an opening statement, presented witnesses on his behalf, cross examined witnesses, and argued his innocence. Nonetheless, he was found guilty. He appealed his conviction. The Florida Supreme Court upheld his conviction. While incarcerated, he filed a hand written petition to the Supreme Court of the United States to answer the question, "are defendants in state court guaranteed the right to counsel under the Sixth Amendment to the Constitution." The Supreme Court took his case and subsequently ruled yes, the Sixth Amendment to the Constitution does guarantee counsel as a fundamental right central to a fair trial, as part of the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. The significance of this for me, as an ordinary citizen and as an attorney is, Mr. Gideon had an eighth grade education. He ran away from school and was a drifter, serving time in prison for nonviolent crimes. Mr. Gideon's act of bravery teaches us that we are more than the bad things we have done and we do not know how our acts of bravery, in seeking truth and justice, may positively impact the lives of others.