Commonwealth v. Kintigh

How courts have described this case

Verbatim parenthetical descriptions written by other courts when citing this decision. Ranked by citation-network relevance.

• holding that \parents have a constitutional right to counsel . . . in parental termination proceedings and that . . . courts must appoint counsel for indigent parents once [Department of Human Services] files a petition to assert foster custody over a child\
• \Mandating the appointment of counsel for indigent parents once DHS moves for custody would remove the vagaries of a case-by-case approach.\
• “We expect that both the parent’s interests and the State’s interests will almost invariably be strong in termination proceedings.”
• “It may be that had counsel been appointed sooner, Petitioner may have been able to comply with the terms of the family plan and provided T.M. with a safe family home at an earlier date.”
• “It may be that had counsel been appointed sooner, Petitioner may have been able to comply with the terms of the family plan and provided T.M. with a safe family home at an earlier date.”
• “Thus, as soon as DHS files a petition asserting custody over a child, parents’ rights are ‘substantially affected.’ At that point, an attorney is essential to protect an indigent parent’s liberty interest in the care, custody and control of his or her children.”

Source: CourtListener parenthetical corpus (CC0).