Clearinghouse Review Looks at Civil Gideon

The July-August 2006 issue of Clearinghouse Review: Journal of Poverty Law and Policy looks at "the growing momentum toward establishing a civil right to counsel," often known as "Civil Gideon."

Paul Marvy, a 2003 UW Law School grad now at Northwest Justice Project, wrote two of the articles:

• Thinking About a Civil Right to Counsel Since 1923, 40 Clearinghouse Rev. 170 (2006), which discusses the development of the idea over the last century. One important article: John MacArthur Maguire, Poverty and Civil Litigation, 36 Harv. L. Rev. 351 (1923). Students: the bibliography would be a great starting place for a paper.
• The Civil Right to Counsel in Washington State, 40 Clearinghouse Rev. 180 (2006). Mr. Marvy is the Coordinator for the Committee for Indigent Representation and Civil Legal Equality (Circle).

Other articles about individual states cover at Wisconsin, Maryland, Ohio, California, and Canada.

One article is actually excerpts from an amicus brief:

Eleven state court judges in Wisconsin filed an amicus brief in Kelly v. Warpinski, a case in which the petitioners asked the Wisconsin Supreme Court to take original jurisdiction and rule on their argument that the state constitution conferred a right to appointed counsel in civil cases. In their brief, the amici explained how pro se litigants burdened the courts; the amici argued that original jurisdiction in the supreme court was warranted under state law.

Judges' Views of Pro Se Litigants' Effect on Courts, 40 Clearinghouse Rev. 228 (2006). The argument addresses not just the problems faced by the pro se litigants themselves, but also the burden they create for the court system and other litigants. Providing counsel would benefit not just the unrepresented but all the players.

Thanks to Michele Storms for the lead.

Filed in: Civil-Gideon, access-to-justice, Clearinghouse-Review, Marvy, Northwest-Justice-Project, Washington, Wisconsin, Maryland, Ohio, California, Canada, judges, pro-se, Storms, UW