Halbert v. Michigan, 545 U.S. 605 (2005), was a case in which the Supreme Court of the United States held that a Michigan law (Mich. Comp. Laws Ann. § 770.3a (West 2000)), which denied public counsel for defendants appealing a conviction on a plea, violated the equal protection and due process clauses of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution.[1] In a majority opinion written by Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, the Court affirmed that "a State is required to appoint counsel for an indigent defendant's first-tier appeal as of right."[2]

Halbert v. Michigan
Argued April 25, 2005
Decided June 23, 2005
Full case nameAntonio Dwayne Halbert v. Michigan
Citations545 U.S. 605 (more)
125 S. Ct. 2582; 162 L. Ed. 2d 552
Holding
A Michigan law denying an appeals public defender to those who have pleaded guilty violated rights to due process and equal protection
Court membership
Chief Justice
William Rehnquist
Associate Justices
John P. Stevens · Sandra Day O'Connor
Antonin Scalia · Anthony Kennedy
David Souter · Clarence Thomas
Ruth Bader Ginsburg · Stephen Breyer
Case opinions
MajorityGinsburg, joined by Stevens, O'Connor, Kennedy, Souter, Breyer
DissentThomas, joined by Rehnquist, Scalia
Laws applied
U.S. Const. amend. XIV

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Halbert v. Michigan, 545 U.S. 605, 610 (2005).
  2. ^ Halbert, 545 U.S. at 611.
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