By Daniel Horwitz:

Across the world, whether people who have been accused of committing crimes should have the right to an attorney is something of a disputed question.  Certainly, North Korean “Supreme Leader” Kim Jong-un, Turkish dictator Recep Erdogan, and any number of other modern fascists hold strong views on the matter.  In America, however, the answer to this question has long been settled by the Sixth Amendment to the United States Constitution, which declares with unmistakable clarity that: “In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right … to have the Assistance of Counsel for his defense.”

Given the fundamental importance of the right to counsel in our constitutional democracy, the Republican National Committee’s disgraceful charge that “America deserves better” than a vice president who has represented the criminally accused should be swiftly and forcefully repudiated by all. Continue reading Tennessean Op Ed: Right to counsel a fundamental constitutional right →