Right to counsel
While a state may have many statutes, court decisions, or court rules governing
appointment of counsel for a particular subject area, a "Key Development" is a
statute/decision/rule that prevails over the others (example: a state high court
decision finding a categorical right to counsel in guardianships cases takes
precedence over a statute saying appointment in guardianship cases is
discretionary).
Legislation, Termination of Parental Rights (State) - Birth Parents
Tenn. Code Ann. § 37-1-126(a)(2)(B)(ii) provides a right to counsel for "Termination of parental rights pursuant to § 36-1-113." While this provision refers to terminations conducted pursuant to the Adoption Code, in In re Carrington H., 483 S.W.3d 507, 527 (Tenn. 2016), the court in a state-initiated termination case cited to Tenn. Code Ann. § 37-1-126(a)(2)(B)(ii) for the proposition that “Tennessee statutorily provides the right to appointed counsel for indigent parents in every parental termination proceeding."
If "yes",
the established right to counsel or
discretionary appointment of counsel
is
limited
in some way, including any of: the only authority
is a
lower/intermediate court decision or a city council,
not a high court or state legislature; there
has been
a subsequent case that
has
cast doubt; a statute
is
ambiguous; or the right or discretionary appointment
is not
for all types of individuals or proceedings
within that category.
categorical
no
