Baldasar v. Illinois

Mr. Justice Powell, with whom The Chief Justice, Mr. Justice White, and Mr. Justice Rehnquist join,

dissenting.

Last Term in Scott v. Illinois, 440 U. S. 367 (1979), we rejected the claim that Argersinger v. Hamlin, 407 U. S. 25 (1972), requires the appointment of counsel for an indigent charged with a misdemeanor punishable by imprisonment, regardless of whether the defendant actually is sentenced to jail. We held explicitly that an uncounseled misdemeanor conviction is constitutionally valid if the offender is not jailed.

In 1975, the petitioner in this case was tried without the appointment…