State Status Map
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Notice regarding status map
No information in the map should be taken as legal advice. Moreover, information in the map is to be taken as-is, with no guarantees of its accuracy.
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Map Instruction & Disclaimers
- No information in the map should be taken as legal advice. Moreover, information in the map is to be taken as-is, with no guarantees of its accuracy.
- We add new cases, statutes, and other developments every day as we learn of them. Additionally, the law in each state has been comprehensively reviewed and updated as part of a rolling process that began in 2013 and continues through the current day.
- The map does not display any negative law (i.e., cases, laws, or other developments declaring there is not a right to counsel in a certain area) except for authenticated users.
- In the "Right to Counsel Status" view, where we are aware that a type of proceeding does not exist at all (for instance, some states do not require parental notice/consent for a minor to have an abortion, and so there is no judicial bypass procedure), it will be indicated in a brown color. But for areas listed as “incomplete”, we do not yet know if any of the states that appear to lack a right to counsel do not in fact authorize proceedings of these types.
- It is possible that an unpublished opinion may be listed in a jurisdiction that does not allow such authority to be cited. We note where opinions are unpublished but still include them because the rules on citing unpublished opinions constantly change.
- For rights to counsel pertaining to children and vulnerable adults, the map considers a child to have a categorical right to counsel only the court must appoint client-directed counsel. Where the court appoints an attorney ad litem or a guardian ad litem who must be an attorney, it is treated as a qualified right to counsel.
- Instructions on how each map view works can be found right above the map.
Map Instructions & Disclaimers
- No information in the map should be taken as legal advice. Moreover, information in the map is to be taken as-is, with no guarantees of its accuracy.
- We add new cases, statutes, and other developments every day as we learn of them. Additionally, the law in each state has been comprehensively reviewed and updated as part of a rolling process that began in 2013 and continues through the current day.
- The map does not display any negative law (i.e., cases, laws, or other developments declaring there is not a right to counsel in a certain area) except for authenticated users.
- In the "Right to Counsel Status" view, where we are aware that a type of proceeding does not exist at all (for instance, some states do not require parental notice/consent for a minor to have an abortion, and so there is no judicial bypass procedure), it will be indicated in a brown color. But for areas listed as “incomplete”, we do not yet know if any of the states that appear to lack a right to counsel do not in fact authorize proceedings of these types.
- It is possible that an unpublished opinion may be listed in a jurisdiction that does not allow such authority to be cited. We note where opinions are unpublished but still include them because the rules on citing unpublished opinions constantly change.
- For rights to counsel pertaining to children and vulnerable adults, the map considers a child to have a categorical right to counsel only the court must appoint client-directed counsel. Where the court appoints an attorney ad litem or a guardian ad litem who must be an attorney, it is treated as a qualified right to counsel.
- Instructions on how each map view works can be found right above the map.
