Right to counsel

In People ex rel Rogers v. Stanley, 17 N.Y.2d 256, 259 (1966), the New York Court of Appeals cited to various U.S. Supreme Court cases such as Gideon v. Wainwright, Douglas v. People of State of California, and Griffin v. People of State of Illinois, to hold that “an indigent mental patient, who is committed to an institution, is entitled, in a habeas corpus proceeding (brought to establish his sanity), to the assignment of counsel as a matter of constitutional right.”  The court did not address the right to counsel at the proceeding to establish commitment.

See also Matter of Andrea B., 405 N.Y.S.2d 977 (Fam. Ct. 1978) (in case involving juvenile subject to involuntary commitment, court cites to Rogers v. Stanley as well as Powell v. State of Ala., 287 U.S. 45 (1932), for holding that “the right to counsel, including assigned counsel for the indigent is a due process right”).