The Opinions Of Judge Bazelon Over The Years Had The Laid The Foundation For This Decision And Several Of Them Were Cited In The Briefs Filed By His Friends Abe Fortas And Abe Krash

who had been appointed to Represent Gideon. (My friend John Hart Ely was working for the Fortas firm during the summer the briefs were being prepared and I reviewed and edited several drafts with John.) Bazelon’s opinions—more often dissents than majority—had established the conceptual framework for a broad-based claim of equality in the criminal justice system. He had gone considerably further than the Supreme Court would ever go in seeking to assure that indigent defendants were treated no differently from wealthy ones. Many of the cases my year dealt with this issue.