In Re Luscier: Indident Parents' Right to Counsel
![handle is hein.journals/willr11 and id is 462 raw text is: IN RE LUSCIER:' INDIGENT PARENTS'
RIGHT TO COUNSEL
In a recent unanimous opinion, the Washington Supreme Court
held that indigent parents have,, a constitutional right to the ap-
pointment of counsel at public expense in permanent child depriva-
tion proceedings.
FACTS
In April of 1973, a petition was filed by Grays Harbor County
in superior court alleging the dependency of Alexander and Elsie
Luscier.2 The petition sought the removal of the children from
parental control and the severance of all parental rights and inter-
ests of the father, Alexander Luscier.3 In June, the court con-
ducted a hearing to determine the merit of the petition. At that
hearing, Mr. Luscier appeared with the aid of counsel. Subse-
quently, on August 10, 1973, the court ordered permanent depriva-
tion of Luscier's parental rights.
Although Mr. Luscier was later determined indigent, his motion
for appointment of counsel to pursue an appeal of the deprivation
order was denied. The trial court stated that it was without au-
thority to appoint counsel at public expense.4
Denial of this motion for court appointed counsel was appealed,
and the court of appeals, in turn, certified5 to the Washington Su-
preme Court the principal issue: Whether the right of a parent
to his children is sufficiently fundamental to entitle an indigent
1. 84 Wash. 2d 135, 524 P.2d 906 (1974).
2. In Washington, any person may petition the superior court, pur-
suant to WASH. REV. CODE [hereinafter cited as RCW] § 13.04.060 (1974), and
show that there is, within the county in which that court sits, a child who
by reason of neglect, cruelty or depravity, among others, should be made
a ward of the court. RCW 13.04.010. After notice and a hearing, the court
may assume jurisdiction over the child and it may order 1) that the child be
remitted to the parent (s) subject to court supervision, RCW 13.04.095(1);
2) the temporary removal of the child from the parent(s), whereupon
the child is placed in a foster home, RCW 13.04.095(3); 3) a public or pri-
vate institutionalization, RCW 13.04.095(4)-(5); or 4) that the child be
permanently taken from the parents and placed for adoption, RCW 13.-
04.110.
3. At the time of the petition, the minors' mother, Darlene Luscier,
had been ordered permanently deprived of all parental rights to the chil-
dren under a prior order of the court. Mr. Luscier was serving a sentence
at McNeil Island Federal Penitentiary for interstate transportation of a
stolen motor vehicle, at the time of his hearing. Brief for Appellant at 2,
In re Luscier, 84 Wash. 2d 135, 524 P.2d 906 (1974).
4. 84 Wash. 2d at 136, 524 P.2d at 907.
5. RCW 2.06.030.](ViewImageLocal?handle=hein.journals/willr11&div=36&collection=journals&method=preview&ext=.png&size=3)
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In Re Luscier: Indident Parents' Right to Counsel
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