Miscellaneous

Gideon v. Wainwright Just Jumped the Shark in Washington

If you're caught skipping class in Washington, you might want to get used to this refrain: "You have a right to an attorney, anything you do or say can be held ... "

A panel of judges has apparently made Washington the first state to rule that juvenile students accused of chronically cutting classes in public schools are entitled to a lawyer in their first court hearing.

The Washington state Court of Appeals ruled Monday that denying a juvenile the right to a lawyer from the outset violated constitutional requirements.

If it stands, the decision could make Washington the first state in which a juvenile is entitled to counsel at the outset of court truancy proceedings that could lead to penalties, said Paul M. Holland, director of the Ronald A. Peterson Law Clinic at Seattle University, which represented the student in the case.

There's one huge problem with that ruling: Kid's don't have rights, goddamnit. It's rulings like these that are going to undermine America's parents. What's next? A teenager is going to have the right to an attorney before he can be grounded for missing curfew?

Ree-diculous.

Full post as published by Quiz Law on January 13, 2009 (boomark / email).