The Importance Of The Sixth Amendment In To Kill A Mockingbird

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Would you rather go into a trial with an attorney or without? With the Sixth amendment you are guaranteed an attorney no matter what the circumstances are. The Sixth Amendment strongly influences the Right to Counsel which ensures a fair trial, it is crime specific, this also protects every individual charged with a crime, the amendment has faced many challenges and different interpretations over the years, furthermore, this is presented in Harper Lee's novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, in Tom Robinson's case. The sixth amendment is the right to counsel, which means if you we convicted of doing something to have the right to an attorney. The sixth amendment is crime specific and helps protect those under it. This also helps ensure a fair trial which helps protect those who are innocent under the amendment. The right to counsel has become more effective over the years to help more people like Tom Robinson. With the sixth amendment being crime specific …show more content…

The novel was set in the 1930’s, when blacks didn’t have equal rights. Tom is a good example of the Sixth amendment because he shows that he didn’t have a fair trial according the amendment. Tom was convicted of raping Mayella Ewell and had to go to trial to testify. Tom had been in trouble with the law before, he received 30 days in jail for his disorderly conduct. Tom’s predicament: he would not have dared strike a white woman under any circumstances and expect to live long (Lee pg.260-261). Tom would not have been able to beat Mayella because what some did not know was that Tom got his left arm caught in a cotton gin and was not able to use it. I believe that Tom did not have a fair trial because his jury was made up of all white farmers and Reverend Sykes told Jem, “I ain’t ever seen any jury decide in favor of a colored man over a white man” (Lee pg. 279) indicating that Tom had no chance of

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