The 6th Amendment to the US Constitution says: In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the state and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the assistance of counsel for his defense. …guaranteeing one the right to an attorney for all criminal prosecutions.
Traffic violations are criminal acts, not civil. And, the above does not make a distinction for misdemeanors. So, when going to the court as the defendant against a traffic violation, does an attorney have to be provided? Or, if this has been curtailed by State and/or Local laws, are such laws unconstitutional?
STOP the presses, stop the presses! I just found in very fine print where an attorney WILL BE provided! So, the system works! Mr. Admin, I withdraw the question! No further questions!
I was drafting the answer below when the OP withdrew the question but I’ll post it just in case anyone else wonders about the answer.
Not all traffic violations are criminal in all states. If certain traffic violations are criminal in yours, there is another question – is this a traffic violation for which you can be jailed or imprisoned?
There is some history here. The Sixth Amendment, like the bill of rights generally, applies to the federal government. It was the adoption of the 14th amendment after the Civil War that led to led to certain civil rights being selectively “incorporated” and applied to the states. One of those rights, eventually, was the sixth amendment right to appointment of counsel. In Gideon v. Wainwright (here: Clarence Earl GIDEON, Petitioner, v. Louie L. WAINWRIGHT, Director, Division of Corrections. | Supreme Court | US Law | LII / Legal Information Institute), the U.S. Supreme Court held that states must provide indigent defendants an attorney in felony cases. “Felony” here means where you can be imprisoned for a year or more or be put to death. In Argersinger v. Hamlin (here: Jon Richard ARGERSINGER, Petitioner, v. Raymond HAMLIN, Sheriff, Leon County, Florida. | Supreme Court | US Law | LII / Legal Information Institute), the Supreme Court extended this right to counsel to any criminal prosecution where you can be incarcerated upon conviction. However, in Argersinger, the Supreme Court noted that there are states that call their prosecution of traffic charges “criminal” but that you are only entitled to counsel in traffic cases “where imprisonment actually occurs.” (see note 10 and the accompanying text in the last link).
This means if you are charged with a “criminal” traffic violation for which you can’t be incarcerated, you aren’t entitled under the U.S. constitution to be appointed a lawyer. Furthermore, even if law provides that conviction could lead to jail, you can still be deprived appointed counsel as long as the judge doesn’t actually send you to jail (same case).
If you can afford a lawyer at all, they will make you pay for it, or at least some portion. You don’t have a right to a free lawyer, just one you can afford. Which could make quite a dent to your budget, even if you’re poor. As I understand it, you basically have to be bankrupt and homeless to get your free lawyer, and they sure aren’t going to be Perry Mason.
As DrCube explains, you have the right to the assistance of a lawyer, but that doesn’t mean the government is obligated to provide you with one. It just means they are not allowed to forbid a lawyer from representing you.
Your interpretation would be the same as saying the government should provide people with free guns since the 2nd Amendment states we have the right to keep and bear arms. We have the right to go buy a gun, just as we have the right to pay for an attorney. We are not generally entitled to free stuff.
It depends on where you are. In New Jersey we do not have the right to a jury trial for traffic violations. You also will not be offered the chance to get a public defender unless the offense has a “consequence of magnitude” as a possible outcome (high fine, loss of license). You can get your own lawyer for anything but one will not be appointed for you when you get a seat belt ticket.
Traffic citations are processed (in states I know about) by Traffic Court, where a “responsible” verdict can be reached if there is “a preponderance of evidence”. If you appeal that determination, you become the appellant, and bear the burden for your own costs of making the appeal. It never becomes a criminal case.
The Sixth Amendment right to counsel attaches at “critical stages” of criminal proceedings.
Traffic violations are almost invariably civil infractions, not criminal matters. Crimes are things for which you can be imprisoned. Infractions do not result in jail time, except in a few states and only under relatively unusual circumstances.
It’s similar to civil penalties for things like violation of the Clean Water Act. If your sole proprietorship is charged with dumping effluent in a river, you don’t get an attorney even if you would be personally liable for the violation.
In misdemeanor cases, you are only constitutionally entitled to counsel where the sentence imposed involves imprisonment, i.e., if the prosecution intends to seek imprisonment, or the court intends to impose it upon a finding of guilty. In other words, if you are permitted to proceed without a lawyer in a misdemeanor case, the sentence can only require payment of a fine, and no jail time.
Thus, a reckless-driving charge might require counsel, if the state wants to put you in jail, but a simple traffic fine never does.
That’s the minimum standard set at the federal level by the Supreme Court. That means the individual states can’t go below that but can go further. As I mentioned upstream my state allows you to petition for a public defender in cases involving possible loss of license or large fines. The possibility of jail is not the only criteria.
Mr. Admin, I withdraw the question! No further questions!