The law as determined
by the Supreme Court :
Constitutional right to effective assistance of counsel in criminal cases:
The Sixth Amendment right to counsel is the right to the effective assistance of counsel, and the benchmark
for judging any claim of ineffectiveness must be whether counsel's conduct so undermined the proper
functioning of the adversarial process that the trial cannot be relied on as having produced a just result.
Civil Rights Violations law:
Gomez v. Toledo, 446 U.S. 635, 4 (U.S., May 27, 1980, Decided )
OVERVIEW: Dismissal of police officer's civil rights action against police superintendent for
failure to state a claim was improper, as he was not required to anticipate qualified immunity defense
by alleging bad faith in order to state claim.
[HN1] - 42 U.S.C.S. § 1983 provides a cause of action for the deprivation of any rights, privileges,
or immunities secured by the United States Constitution and laws by any person acting under color
of any statute, ordinance, regulation, custom, or usage, of any state or territory. 42 U.S.C.S. § 1983.
This statute, enacted to aid in "`the preservation of human liberty and human rights,'" Owen v. City of Independence,
reflects a congressional judgment that a "damages remedy against the offending party is a vital component of any scheme
for vindicating cherished constitutional guarantees," 445 U.S., at 651 . As remedial legislation, 1983 is to be construed