Scott v. Illinois

The ruling clarified the Court's reasoning with regard to provision of legal counsel to indigent criminal defendants as outlined in Argersinger v. Hamlin, (1972). In Argersinger the Court had ruled that a state must provide legal counsel to indigent criminal defendants potentially subject to prison terms of not greater than six months. Scott v. Illinois limited a state's obligation to provide legal counsel to indigent defendants to those cases in which a sentence of imprisonment was imposed.