Filed: Jan. 11, 2018
Latest Update: Jan. 11, 2018
Summary: ORDER DENYING APPOINTMENT OF COUNSEL AND FINDING MOTION FOR CLASS CERTIFICATION TO BE MOOT MICHAEL R. MERZ , Magistrate Judge . This case is before the Court Petitioner's Motion for Appointment of Counsel (part of ECF No. 3). In support thereof, Mr. Marcum represents (without providing any detail) that he is indigent. Appointment of counsel in criminal cases is mandated by the Sixth Amendment to the United States Constitution. Powell v. Alabama, 287 U.S. 45 (1932)(capital cases); Gide
Summary: ORDER DENYING APPOINTMENT OF COUNSEL AND FINDING MOTION FOR CLASS CERTIFICATION TO BE MOOT MICHAEL R. MERZ , Magistrate Judge . This case is before the Court Petitioner's Motion for Appointment of Counsel (part of ECF No. 3). In support thereof, Mr. Marcum represents (without providing any detail) that he is indigent. Appointment of counsel in criminal cases is mandated by the Sixth Amendment to the United States Constitution. Powell v. Alabama, 287 U.S. 45 (1932)(capital cases); Gideo..
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ORDER DENYING APPOINTMENT OF COUNSEL AND FINDING MOTION FOR CLASS CERTIFICATION TO BE MOOT
MICHAEL R. MERZ, Magistrate Judge.
This case is before the Court Petitioner's Motion for Appointment of Counsel (part of ECF No. 3). In support thereof, Mr. Marcum represents (without providing any detail) that he is indigent.
Appointment of counsel in criminal cases is mandated by the Sixth Amendment to the United States Constitution. Powell v. Alabama, 287 U.S. 45 (1932)(capital cases); Gideon v. Wainwright, 372 U.S. 335 (1963)(felony cases); Argersinger v. Hamlin, 407 U.S. 25 (1972)(misdemeanor cases where imprisonment is a possibility); Alabama v. Shelton, 535 U.S. 654 (2002)(even if sentence is suspended).
However, appointment of counsel in a civil case is not a constitutional right. Mekdeci v. Merrell National Laboratories, 711 F.2d 1510, 1522, n. 19 (11th Cir. 1983). It is a privilege that is justified only by exceptional circumstances. Lopez v. Reyes, 692 F.2d 15, 17 (5th Cir. 1982); Wahl v. McIver, 773 F.2d 1169, 1174 (11th Cir. 1985), cited approvingly in Lavado, Jr. v. Keohane, 992 F.2d 601 (6th Cir. 1993). A district court has no authority to compel an attorney to accept appointment. Mallard v. U.S. Dist. Court, S.D. Iowa, 490 U.S. 296 (1989). Congress has never appropriated any funds for compensation of appointed counsel in civil cases generally. Therefore the request for appointment of counsel is DENIED.
Perhaps recognizing that the Court cannot certify a class in a case where the class representative is not represented by counsel, Mr. Marcum requests class certification only "after counsel has been appointed. . ." (ECF No. 3, PageID 2621.) Because appointment of counsel has been denied, the request for class certification is MOOT.
