Supreme Court rules indigent defendants do not have right to counsel in civil cases
[JURIST] The US Supreme Court [official website; JURIST news archive] on Monday ruled [opinion, PDF] 5-4 in Turner v. Rogers [Cornell LII backgrounder; JURIST report] that an indigent defendant does not have a constitutional right to counsel in civil contempt cases that might result in imprisonment. The court held, however, that this particular defendant’s due process rights were violated because he received neither counsel nor access to alternative procedures at his contempt hearing, even though the Due Process Clause of…