Michigan Supreme Court dodges case on right to counsel in termination cases
The Michigan Supreme Court declined to review a case where the trial court failed to appoint counsel for a parent in a termination of parental rights case, despite a supportive amicus brief from the Michigan Attorney General. In re McBride, Nos. 282062, 282243, 2008 WL 2751233 at *8-*9 (Mich. Ct. App. July 15, 2008) (unpublished) (trial court failed to appoint counsel to incarcerated father during termination of parental rights proceedings based on errant belief that father had waived right to counsel; court of appeals holds error harmless); 766 N.W.2d 857 (Mich. 2009) (leave to appeal denied). The Court of Appeals acknowledged that the denial of counsel was in error, but found that the error was harmless. The petition to the Michigan Supreme Court urged the Court to find that (a) the parent had a constitutional right to counsel (as such a right affects the standard of review); and (b) denial of counsel should be reversed per se without applying a “harmless error” analysis.
Documents from the case are available in the comprehensive bibliography section on the McBride case.
NCCRC filed a supportive amicus brief in the case.
