Opinion ID: 754043
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Right of Self-Representation Generally

Text: 12 Before turning to the merits of whether plaintiff is entitled to appear pro se in this civil proceeding, we think it helpful to discuss the general right of self-representation. The right to proceed pro se in civil actions in federal courts is guaranteed by 28 U.S.C. § 1654, which provides: In all courts of the United States the parties may plead and conduct their own cases personally or by counsel as, by the rules of such courts, respectively, are permitted to manage and conduct causes therein. Section 1654's guarantee derives directly from the Judiciary Act of 1789. First introduced in the Senate on June 12, 1789 as part of Senate Bill [S-1], the right to self-representation appeared in section 31 of the Bill. But when the Bill became law, on September 24, 1789, the right was moved to section 35, which reads as follows: That in all the Courts of the United States the Parties may plead and manage their own causes personally or by the assistance of such Counsel or Attorneys at law as by the rules of the said Courts respectively shall be permitted to manage and conduct causes therein. V Documentary History of the First Federal Congress of the United States of America 1789-1791 1150, 1165, 1193 (1986). As can be seen, the right to self-representation has remained constant for over 200 years. 13 The framers of our Constitution thought self-representation in civil suits was a basic right that belongs to a free people. Although the Supreme Court alluded to civil pro se representation in Faretta v. California, 422 U.S. 806, 812-13, 95 S.Ct. 2525, 2529-30, 45 L.Ed.2d 562 (1975), the Court there focused its discussion on the right to represent oneself as a defendant in a criminal case, id. at 813, 95 S.Ct. at 2530 et seq., which the Constitution's Bill of Rights guarantees. In a criminal prosecution, a pro se party of course may only appear as a defendant. In a civil case, a person may appear pro se as either a plaintiff or defendant. And, as noted, the right of self-representation in one case is protected by the Constitution, and in the other, simply by statute. Further, in contrast to criminal defendants, civil litigants unable to afford counsel cannot ordinarily obtain appointment of counsel, except in circumstances when there is a risk of loss of liberty, as in mental commitment or juvenile delinquency proceedings. See H.B. Kim, Note, Legal Education For the Pro Se Litigant: A Step Towards a Meaningful Right to Be Heard, 96 Yale L.J. 1641, 1646-47 (1987). 14 Moreover, the historical origins of self-representation in civil and criminal proceedings are different. In Faretta the Court discussed the historic requirement of having counsel, going back to the infamous English Star Chamber that forced counsel upon an unwilling defendant in a criminal proceeding, and the requirement's gradual reform. This reform was fervently embraced in colonial America for those accused of crime. See Faretta, 422 U.S. at 821-26, 95 S.Ct. at 2534-37. 15