Rutherford v. Katzenberger

Murphy, C. J., concurs in part and dissents in part and filed a concurring and dissenting opinion at page 365 infra.

We granted the petition for a writ of certiorari in these cases to decide whether, as a matter of due process, a defendant in a civil contempt proceeding, in which the court orders actual incarceration, has the right to counsel including government furnished counsel if the defendant is indigent. We hold that this right is guaranteed by the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment and by Art. 24 of the Maryland Declaration of Rights.

*349I.

The relevant facts in each of the two…