State v. Flanagan

We are heirs of Connecticut colonists who distrusted lawyers because so many from the profession were aligned with King George.1 In colonial times, the right most prized was the right to represent one’s self rather than engage such a lawyer *133advocate.2 This right was so valued that, early on, pleading for hire was illegal in the colonies, including Connecticut.3 This explains why, in 1818, the people of Connecticut, one of the first thirteen states, adopted a constitution that expressly guaranteed this right so that no implication of the right of self-representation was necessary as in the…