What does the Sixth Amendment say about the right to counsel?

The Sixth Amendment states that in all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right “to have the Assistance of Counsel for his defence.” For most of American history, that text guaranteed only that a defendant could hire a lawyer if they could afford one, or use a lawyer already provided in federal court — it did not require states to appoint one for defendants too poor to pay. That changed with Gideon v. Wainwright (1963). Clarence Earl Gideon, charged with breaking into a Florida pool hall, asked the trial judge to appoint him a lawyer because he couldn't afford one; the judge refused, since Florida law only required appointed counsel in capital cases. Gideon defended himself, was convicted, and petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court by hand from prison. The Court ruled unanimously that the Sixth Amendment's right to counsel is a fundamental right, applied to the states through the Fourteenth Amendment's Due Process Clause, and that “any person haled into court, who is too poor to hire a lawyer, cannot be assured a fair trial unless counsel is provided for him.” Gideon was retried with a court-appointed attorney and acquitted. The decision reversed Betts v. Brady (1942), which had held states weren't constitutionally required to provide counsel in non-capital felony cases, and it established the public defender system that now operates in every state. The practical logic behind the ruling is straightforward: a right to a fair trial that depends on being able to afford a lawyer isn't equal justice, it's justice priced out of reach for the poor — which is exactly the gap Gideon closed.