I wouldn’t really call it “unambiguous”. For most of the USA’s history (up to the 60s) there was no right to counsel at all (if you wanted a lawyer, you had to hire one yourself). When the SC first introduced the right to counsel it was only for felonies. It was only years later in 1972 after that that misdemeanors were also included. There still isn’t any right to counsel in civil cases (which is why cities love imposing civil penalties where you have no right to a lawyer to help challenge them). Even in criminal cases, in most places you only have a right to counsel if jail time is possible. Well actually that’s not entirely accurate: the SC clarified in a later case that you only have a right to counsel in misdemeanor cases if jail time is actually imposed.
The constitution doesn’t actually provide for an unambiguous right to counsel. You have an inferred right that applies in certain cases so long as the country’s 9 favorite people don’t decide that no, you don’t, actually.
the unambiguous right to legal defense is one of the only good things in our fucking rag of a constitution
I wouldn’t really call it “unambiguous”. For most of the USA’s history (up to the 60s) there was no right to counsel at all (if you wanted a lawyer, you had to hire one yourself). When the SC first introduced the right to counsel it was only for felonies. It was only years later in 1972 after that that misdemeanors were also included. There still isn’t any right to counsel in civil cases (which is why cities love imposing civil penalties where you have no right to a lawyer to help challenge them). Even in criminal cases, in most places you only have a right to counsel if jail time is possible. Well actually that’s not entirely accurate: the SC clarified in a later case that you only have a right to counsel in misdemeanor cases if jail time is actually imposed.
The constitution doesn’t actually provide for an unambiguous right to counsel. You have an inferred right that applies in certain cases so long as the country’s 9 favorite people don’t decide that no, you don’t, actually.
yeah fair calls especially on the civil case part, and of course I figured it goes without saying that the council of elders can ruin anything