And what does that mean? For 170 odd years the constitution has guaranteed people representation in court. But until Gideon v. Wainwright in 1963, if you were b

And what does that mean? For 170 odd years the constitution has guaranteed people representation in court. But until Gideon v. Wainwright in 1963, if you were broke, your chances of getting any kind of representation varies greatly from one state or county to the next. Finally, a fairly activist court decided to interpret that right as a specific literal individual civil right. And one of the most well known aspects of our court system is born. One which we tout every time we question the ethical qualifies of other countries. But why did it take so long. Why, when the court was less activist could this not be read literally and universally as we so clearly think it reads today. If it's just about," interpreting the constitution" and if there was some better time when judges knew their place, why couldn't they see it? You can say the same about aspects of the first amendment, the second, the fourth and many others. Practically everything we say is great about the American legal system and our civil liberties owes to a judge acting a bit like an activist primarily between the years of 1930 and 1970.