A former solicitor general and a former Supreme Court clerk vigorously sparred before the justices on Wednesday over whether indigent people have a constitutional right to counsel if they face jail for failing to pay child support.
A number of justices appeared resistant to extending the Sixth Amendment right to civil contempt proceedings, which would be a significant step toward the “civil Gideon” sought by the American Bar Association and other organizations. Gideon v. Wainwright was the landmark 1963 decision holding that indigent defendants have a right to counsel in state criminal trials.
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