Supreme Court grants certiorari in Gideon and appoints Washington attorney Abe Fortas to argue on his behalf

The Supreme Court unanimously granted certiorari in Gideon v. Cochran — later renamed Gideon v. Wainwright — agreeing to reconsider whether Betts v. Brady should be overruled. Because Gideon was indigent and imprisoned, the Court appointed Abe Fortas, a founding partner of Arnold, Fortas & Porter and one of the most prominent attorneys in Washington, to argue his case. Twenty-two states filed an amicus brief supporting Gideon's position; only Florida argued that Betts should be preserved. The lopsided alignment signaled that the national consensus on appointed counsel had shifted significantly since 1942.