U. S. Supreme Court: No automatic right to have a lawyer provided in U.S. civil cases.

WASHINGTON – The US Supreme Court ruled Monday that states did not have an automatic duty to provide counsel in civil courts in the case of a divorced father who was jailed for failing to pay child support.

By a majority 5-4 vote, the justices found that while the South Carolina father's rights had been violated because he was not given free counsel, US states did not have to provide such advice in all civil contempt cases.

The case was being highly watched and had become emblematic of what civil rights groups have called a trend towards "debtors' prisons" in America.

Link:
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2011/06/20/no-automatic-right-to-lawyer-in-u-s-civil-cases-court/