Case Court State Topic(s) Summary
407 U.S. 25 (1972)
Decided: Jun 12, 1972
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SCOTUS
FL
Right to counsel: Criminal
An indigent criminal defendant cannot be subjected to actual imprisonment unless provided with counsel. Specifically, the right to counsel applies if the defendant could actually be imprisoned, even for so-called petty offenses where no jury trial is required or the sentence would be less than six months.
SCOTUS
MD
Due process
Right to counsel: Criminal
Right to counsel: Criminal
The refusal of a state court to appoint counsel to represent an indigent defendant at a trial in which he was convicted of robbery did not deny him due process of law in violation of the Fourteenth Amendment.
373 U.S. 83 (1963)
Decided: May 13, 1963
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SCOTUS
MD
Due process
Prosecutorial conduct
Suppression of evidence
Prosecutorial conduct
Suppression of evidence
Suppression by the prosecution of evidence favorable to an accused who has requested it violates due process where the evidence is material either to guilt or to punishment, irrespective of the good faith or bad faith of the prosecution.
SCOTUS
CA
Double jeopardy
Juvenile defendants
Juvenile defendants
The Court found that double jeopardy applies to an individual who is tried as a juvenile and is then later tried as an adult.
SCOTUS
CA
Equal protection
Right to counsel: Criminal
Right to counsel: Criminal
There was discrimination between the rich and the poor which violates the Fourteenth Amendment because indigent defendant's sole appeal was decided without benefit of counsel in a state criminal case.
314 U.S. 160 (1941)
Decided: Nov 24, 1941
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SCOTUS
CA
Interstate commerce
Paupers as citizens
Right to travel
Paupers as citizens
Right to travel
A statute of California making it a misdemeanor for anyone knowingly to bring or assist in bringing into the State a nonresident "indigent person" held invalid as an unconstitutional burden on interstate commerce.
372 U.S. 335
Decided: Mar 18, 1963
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SCOTUS
FL
Right to counsel: Criminal
Landmark unanimous ruling that states are required under the Sixth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution to provide an attorney to defendants in criminal cases who are unable to afford their own.
SCOTUS
IL
Due process
Equal protection
Equal protection
Under the Due Process and Equal Protection Clauses of the Fourteenth Amendment, Court held that indigent Illinois convicts may not be denied the right to appeal by inability to pay for a trial transcript and are entitled to receive certified copy of the entire trial record without cost.
387 U.S. 1 (1967)
Decided: May 15, 1967
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SCOTUS
AZ
Due process
Juvenile defendants
Juvenile defendants
The Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment applies to juvenile defendants as well as adult defendants.
384 U.S. 436 (1966)
Decided: Jun 13, 1966
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SCOTUS
AZ
Right to counsel: Criminal
Under the Fifth Amendment, any statements that a defendant in custody makes during an interrogation are admissible as evidence at a criminal trial only if law enforcement told the defendant of the right to remain silent and the right to speak with an attorney before the interrogation started, and the rights were either exercised or waived in a knowing, voluntary, and intelligent manner.
431 U.S. 494 (1977)
Decided: May 31, 1977
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SCOTUS
OH
Civil rights: State
Family integrity
Fourteenth Amendment
Housing
Family integrity
Fourteenth Amendment
Housing
Grandma gets jail time and fined for living with her son and grandchildren. Supreme Court rules for Grandma, reverses lower court in one of the decisions that established "a constitutional right to family integrity."
SCOTUS
AL
Due process
Right to counsel: Criminal
Right to counsel: Criminal
Under the Sixth Amendment, counsel must be provided to all defendants charged with a capital felony in state court regardless of that defendant's ability to pay.
SCOTUS
FL
Ineffective counsel
Right to counsel: Criminal
Right to counsel: Criminal
To prove that assistance of criminal counsel was so ineffective as to deny the Sixth Amendment right to counsel, a defendant must show that counsel's representation fell below an objective standard of reasonableness and prejudiced the defense so as to deprive the defendant of a fair trial. The court must indulge a strong presumption that counsel's conduct falls within the wide range of reasonable professional assistance.
SCOTUS
TX
Criminal fines
Equal protection
Equal protection
It is a denial of equal protection to limit punishment to payment of a fine for those who are able to pay it, but to convert the fine to imprisonment for those who are unable to pay it.