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Administrative Law Keyed to Schwartz
Turner v. Rogers
Citation:
564 U.S. 431 (2011)Facts
In 2003, a South Carolina family court ordered Michael Turner to pay $51.73 per week in child support to Rebecca Rogers. Over the following three years, Turner repeatedly failed to make payments and was held in contempt five times. For the first four contempt findings, he was sentenced to 90 days’ imprisonment but avoided jail or served only brief periods by making payments. After his release from a six-month sentence for the fifth contempt, Turner remained in arrears. At a subsequent contempt hearing in January 2008, Turner appeared without counsel and explained that he had struggled with drug addiction, had broken his back, and had filed for disability benefits. Without making explicit findings about Turner’s ability to pay, the judge found him in “willful contempt” and sentenced him to 12 months’ imprisonment, with the opportunity to purge the contempt by paying the full arrearage. Turner served the complete sentence and then appealed with the help of pro bono counsel, arguing that he had a constitutional right to appointed counsel at his contempt hearing.
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