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Josh Duggar just suffered another courtroom defeat!
Last month, the disgraced former reality star demanded a court-appointed attorney to work to overturn his conviction.
The Constitution guarantees the right to an attorney, regardless of wealth. But, as we noted in our earlier reporting, this applies to certain situations — and does not usually extend to endless appeals of a conviction.
We’re not legal experts. But the judge who reviewed his motion for an attorney seemed to agree anyway.
Is Josh Duggar getting a free attorney to challenge his conviction forever?
On May 27, Josh Duggar filed a motion in the US District Court for the Western District of Arkansas.
This time, he filed the motion himself. He was requesting a court-appointed attorney, free of charge.
He claimed that his goal was to evaluate whether his Constitutional rights were violated in a manner that would invalidate his conviction, sentence, or both.
According to Josh, who has previously had paid legal representation, he no longer has the funds to continuously fight his appeal.
Jim Bob should be able to pay any number of billable hours with his recent influx of fresh real estate millions.
Though Anna Duggar reportedly insists that her awful husband is innocent, perhaps Jim Bob does not agree.
Or perhaps there’s a plan to just directly buy Josh a way out of prison, since that has seemingly worked for other reality stars.
The court says that Josh failed to make his case
On Thursday, June 5, Josh Duggar received his answer.
According to KNWA, US Magistrate Judge Christy Comstock declined his request for counsel.
In her order, Comstock noted that Duggar’s motion lacked sufficient detail and also failed to justify the request.
This is not a surprising ruling. As we noted, the right to a court-appointed attorney if you lack the funds to hire one does not usually apply to someone who is already in prison and has already filed an appeal.
Let alone, in this case, multiple appeals.
However, the court does have the discretion to appoint a counsel even after a conviction and appeal.
But the defendant would have to highlight that the claim is not frivolous and has some sort of complexity, be it legal or factual.
It seems that Josh failed to do any of that. Oh, well.
Plenty of (other) people deserve another look at their convictions and sentences
Well over one million people are in prison within the United States. Obviously, many thousands of these folks are either innocent or should otherwise not be behind bars.
Yes, our legal processes and our carceral system are in dire need of reform on many levels.
Among other things, the conditions in prisons and jails should be safe and humane and with the knowledge that innocent people will inevitably spend time incarcerated.
But, despite its many flaws, sometimes the judicial system does get something right.
Many sleep easier at night knowing that Josh Duggar is behind bars and has no access to children.
Josh Duggar Motion for New, Free Attorney DENIED by Court was originally published on The Hollywood Gossip.