Griffin v. Illinois
Supreme Court of the United States
The petitioners Griffin and Crenshaw were tried together and convicted of armed robbery in the Criminal Court of Cook County, Illinois. Immediately after their conviction they filed a motion in the trial court asking that a certified copy of the entire record, including a stenographic transcript of the proceedings, be furnished them without cost.
Read the full summary
The petitioners Griffin and Crenshaw were tried together and convicted of armed robbery in the Criminal Court of Cook County, Illinois. Immediately after their conviction they filed a motion in the trial court asking that a certified copy of the entire record, including a stenographic transcript of the proceedings, be furnished them without cost. They alleged that they were “poor persons with no means of paying the necessary fees to acquire the Transcript and Court Records needed to prosecute an appeal. . . .” These allegations were not denied. Under Illinois law in order to get full direct…
1DissentJustice Harlan
Much as I would prefer to see free transcripts furnished to indigent defendants in all felony cases, I find myself unable to join in the Court’s holding that the Fourteenth Amendment requires a State to do so or to furnish indigents with equivalent means of exercising a right to appeal. The importance of the question decided by the Court justifies adding to what Mr. Justice Burton and Mr. Justice Minton have written my further grounds for dissenting and the reasons why I find the majority opinions unsatisfying.
1. Inadequacy of the Record. — I would decline to decide the constitutional…
2Cases cited22 opinions
- Palko v. ConnecticutSupreme Court of the United States · 1937
- Betts v. BradySupreme Court of the United States · 1942
- Rescue Army v. Municipal Court of Los AngelesSupreme Court of the United States · 1947
- Dowd v. United States Ex Rel. CookSupreme Court of the United States · 1951
- Cochran v. KansasSupreme Court of the United States · 1942
17 more not listed; retrieve them via the Exa API.