Griffin v. Illinois

1956-05-28

Headline: Ruling prevents states from blocking appeals by denying free trial transcripts to poor defendants and requires Illinois to provide adequate appellate review for indigent criminal defendants.

Holding: The Court held that Illinois’ practice of denying free trial transcripts to indigent criminal defendants, thereby preventing full appellate review, violated the Fourteenth Amendment’s Due Process and Equal Protection guarantees, and ordered further state action.

Real World Impact:

Requires states to provide effective appellate review for indigent defendants.
May force states to supply transcripts or other practical alternatives.
Allows many past convictions to be challenged if transcript was unaffordable.

Topics: criminal appeals, trial transcripts, indigent defendants, equal access to justice, due process

Summary

Background

Two poor men convicted of armed robbery in Cook County, Illinois asked the trial court to give them a certified copy of the full trial record, including a stenographic transcript, because they could not afford it. Illinois law required a bill of exceptions or a report certified by the trial judge for full appellate review, and in practice a transcript was often necessary. The state provided free transcripts only in death penalty or certain constitutional cases; otherwise defendants had to pay.

Reasoning

The Court asked whether it is fair under the Constitution to let rich defendants obtain full review while denying that same review to poor defendants who cannot pay for transcripts. Justice Black’s majority said the Fourteenth Amendment’s promises of fair procedure and equal treatment forbids a system that in effect bars appeals for the indigent. The Court vacated the Illinois Supreme Court’s dismissal and instructed the state to provide a practical way to give the poor as adequate an appellate review as those who can pay—though the state need not always buy a stenographic transcript and may use other effective methods.

Real world impact

The decision requires Illinois to change its appellate practice so that poverty does not prevent a meaningful appeal. It may affect many defendants who were unable to buy transcripts and could prompt other States to alter procedures or provide transcripts, by order or other methods, to preserve fair review. The ruling is a new constitutional rule and may lead to collateral claims by some incarcerated persons.

Dissents or concurrances

Justice Frankfurter joined the judgment but emphasized deference to state methods and urged flexibility in how to provide review; several Justices dissented, saying the Constitution does not compel states to provide free transcripts in all noncapital cases.