Bearden v. South Carolina

Insofar as the majority holds that the Sixth and Fourteenth Amendments do not guarantee the right of a parolee to counsel at his parole revocation hearing, I respectfully dissent.1

I

The basic error in the majority’s opinion is its niggardly reading of Mempa v. Rhay, 389 U.S. 128, 88 S.Ct. 254, 19 L.Ed.2d 336 (1967). However facially limited was the exact question decided in the case, the ease holds “that appointment of counsel for an indigent is required at every stage of a criminal proceeding where substantial rights of a criminal accused may be affected.” (emphasis supplied.) 389 U.S. at…