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Right to Counsel

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Right to Counsel
Yolette T. Pepe
Kaplan University
Introduction to Law
LS102-03
Prof Young
February 15, 2011

Right to Counsel
The root of all American laws are found in English law. In England, people who were charged with felonies had no right to hire a private attorney, though it was allowed sometimes in special circumstances. After the Glorious Revolution in 1688, Parliament passed a law allowing people accused of treason the right to be represented by an attorney at trial, but this right did not extend to any other classes of crime. (Find Law, 2010) All the way up until 1836, with the passage of the Prisoners' Counsel Act, this right was denied to people charged with nearly all serious crimes in England. The development of the common-law principle in England had denied to anyone charged with a felony the right to retain counsel, while the right was afforded in misdemeanor cases, a rule ameliorated in practice, however, by the judicial practice of allowing counsel to argue points of law and then generously interpreting the limits of ''legal questions.'' The colonial and early state practice in this country was varied, ranging from the existent English practice to appointment of counsel in a few States where needed counsel could not be retained. Historically, the right to counsel has meant the right to retained counsel; that is, if the defendant could afford a lawyer, he had the right to use one. (Lawyers.com, 2000) The poor defendant was denied this right. In early America, some states showed a greater concern for the impoverished defendant than did the federal government. These states provided for the appointment of counsel in cases punishable by death, with some states going so far as to provide counsel on all felony charges. The early American colonies generally brought English law with them, so most colonies also barred serious criminal defendants from obtaining a lawyer. This practice varied from colony to colony with some colonies appointing lawyers in some circumstances. Sometimes people were represented by an outside attorney, but it was done so freely by attorneys as an act of good will, for trial experience and for personal publicity. In some cases, these attorneys were paid at the public's expense primarily a 20th Century development the Sixth Amendment provides that in all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to have counsel for his defense. Contemporaneously with the proposal and ratification of the Sixth Amendment, Congress enacted two statutory provisions which seemed to indicate an understanding that the guarantee was limited to assuring that a person wishing and able to afford counsel would not be denied that right. It was not until the 1930's that the Supreme Court began expanding the clause to its present scope. The expansion began in Powell v. Alabama, (1932) in which the Court set aside the convictions of eight black youths sentenced to death in a hastily carried-out trial without benefit of counsel. Due process, Justice Sutherland said for the Court, always requires the observance of certain fundamental personal rights associated with a hearing, and ''the right to the aid of counsel is of this fundamental character.'' Powell v. Alabama, (1932). This observation was about the right to retain counsel of one's choice and at one's expense, and included an eloquent statement of the necessity of counsel. ''The right to be heard would be, in many cases, of little avail if it did not comprehend the right to be heard by counsel. Significant changes began to occur in the 1940s, when the U. S. Supreme Court concluded that the Constitution required an offer of free counsel to the poor in all felony cases in federal courts. If a defendant waived this right, the waiver had to be intelligent.
Further improvements came in the 1960s. A landmark case, Gideon v. Wainwright,(1963) led to a Supreme Court ruling that the states could no longer use a different standard than the federal government in the appointment of counsel to represent poor defendants. It decreed that free counsel must be appointed to represent all poor persons who were accused of a felony. (The 'Lectric Law Library, (1995). By this ruling, the court established the unfairness of allowing an unrepresented defendant to face the combined forces of the state prosecutor's office and police investigators without any assistance.

Criminal defendants can waive their right to have an attorney in some cases if they are believed to be competent enough to understand what denying the right to counsel means. If a person is not knowledgeable enough to understand what giving up this right means, for example in the case of a minor or a mentally handicapped person, the court can deny them the right to refuse counsel and can appoint them an attorney anyway. When a person takes advantage of the Right to Trial Clause this guarantees that the individual has the right to represent oneself in court, he is said to be representing himself pro se. Pro meaning "for self." (Legal Sources, 2004) If a person proceeds pro se in a court case, it is usually because either he is a lawyer himself, he believes he can adequately navigate the court system and represent himself well, or because he is for some reason unable to obtain a lawyer. People rarely proceed in a court case pro se because they cannot afford to hire an attorney, since most criminal cases allow a court appointed attorney. In colonial days, it was common for people to represent themselves in court and this was the understanding that the Founders had of court procedures when they passed the 6th Amendment and the Right to Trial Clause. As stated in Brewer v. Williams,(1977) the rights granted by 6th and 14th Amendments “means that a person is entitled to the help of a lawyer at or after the time that judicial proceedings have been initiated against him, whether by formal charge, preliminary hearing, indictment, information, or arraignment.”Brewer went on to conclude that once adversary proceedings have begun against a defendant, he has a right to legal representation when the government interrogates him. Courts have indicated that a defendant has a constitutionally protected right to represent himself in a criminal trial. For example, in the case of Snyder v. Massachusetts, the Court held “that the Confrontation Clause of the Sixth Amendment gives the accused a right to be present at all stages of the proceedings where fundamental fairness might be thwarted by his absence.” Snyder v. Massachusetts (1934) This right to 'presence' was based upon the premise that the 'defense may be made easier if the accused is permitted to be present at the examination of jurors or the summing up of counsel, for it will be in his power, if present, to give advice or suggestion or even to supersede his lawyers altogether and conduct the trial himself. (Justia.com, 2004) Furthermore, in the Price v. Johnston (1948) case the Court held that a convicted person had no absolute right to argue his own appeal, the court said this holding was in 'sharp contrast' to his 'recognized privilege of conducting his own defense at the trial. Overall in the past few decades the opportunity to represent oneself in a court of law has increasingly been diluted due to the fact that the legal system has steadily increased within its level of difficulty, to where one may not have the ability to both understand, and comprehend the legal system, thus reducing the possibility of an individual who maybe unfamiliar with the legal system from understanding the aspects of law enough in order to represent him or herself in a court of law involving a criminal case. .

References

Brewer v. Williams, 430 U.S. 387 (U.S. 1977) Retrieved Oct 19, 2010, from http://www.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/historics/USSC_CR_0430_0387_ZS.html
Find Law. (2010, Aug 31). ASSISTANCE OF COUNSEL. Eagan, MN, United States.
Gideon v. Wainwright, 372 U.S. 335 (U.S. 1963) Retrieved Oct 19, 2010, from http://www.lectlaw.com/files/case17.htm
Justia.com. (2004, Jun 19). Justia.com. Retrieved Oct 19, 2010, from supreme.justia.com: http://supreme.justia.com/us/291/97/case.html
Lawyers.com. (2000). Right to counsel. Understandind legal issues , 1.
Legal Sources. (2004, September 20). Pro Se. Retrieved Oct 19, 20010, from Legal-Explanations.com: http://www.legal-explanations.com/definitions/pro-se.htm
Powell v. Ala., 287 U.S. 45 (U.S. 1932) Retrieved Oct 19, 2010, from http://www.infoplease.com/us/supreme-court/cases/ar30.html
Price v. Johnston, 334 U.S. 266 (U.S. 1948) Retrieved Oct 19, 2010, from https://www.lexis.com/research/retrieve?_m=7e26dd566737a091e84ef7af1e2bd89f&csvc=le&cform=byCitation&_fmtstr=FULL&docnum=1&_startdoc=1&wchp=dGLbVtz-zSkAA&_md5=7ce569c1e28d59b03356733523588af3
Snyder v. Massachusetts, 291 U.S. 97 (U.S. 1934) Retrieved Oct 19, 2010, from https://www.lexis.com/research/retrieve?_m=7e26dd566737a091e84ef7af1e2bd89f&csvc=le&cform=byCitation&_fmtstr=FULL&docnum=1&_startdoc=1&wchp=dGLbVtz-zSkAA&_md5=7ce569c1e28d59b03356733523588af3
Tthe 'Lectric Law Library. (1995, Jan 15). Indigent's Right To Appointed Counsel . Carson City, NV.

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