The Right to Counsel
is a Constitutional Right
"From the very beginning, our state and national constitutions and laws have laid great emphasis on procedural and substantive safeguards designed to assure fair trials before impartial tribunals in which every defendant stands equal before the law.
This noble ideal cannot be realized if the poor man charged with crime has to face his accusers without a lawyer to assist him."
Justice Hugo L. Black
"There can be no equal justice where the kind of appeal a man enjoys depends on the amount of money he has."
Justice William O. Douglas