The basic question the Supreme Court had to answer had to do with the Sixth Amendment. They had already decided that under the Sixth Amendment, everyone accused of a crime in "federal" court had the right to have a lawyer, even if they could not pay for one. Now they needed to decide whether the Sixth Amendment applied to the states like it did to the federal government. In other words, did every person accused of a crime in "state" court have the right to a lawyer?