Walter W. v. Jacqueline W.

In 1978, this court held that a reviewing court is required “to appoint counsel for any indigent parent appealing from an order terminating parental rights pursuant to Civil Code [former] section 232.” (In re Jacqueline H. (1978) 21 Cal.3d 170, 177 [ 145 Cal.Rptr. 548 , 577 P.2d 683 ], fn. omitted, italics added (Jacqueline H).) We concluded that an indigent parent’s right to appointed appellate counsel was “implicit in the Legislature’s entire statutory scheme for the removal of children from the custody and control of their parents.” (Id. at p. 175.) In 1984, the Legislature enacted a statute requiring a reviewing court to appoint counsel for an indigent parent “[u]pon appeal from a judgment freeing a minor who is a dependent child of the juvenile court from parental custody and control . . . .” (Civ. Code, former § 237.7 [reenacted in 1992, operative 1994, as Fam. Code, § 7895], italics added.)

At issue here is whether a reviewing court is required to appoint counsel for an indigent parent on an appeal from a judgment freeing from parental *203 custody and control a child who is not a dependent child of the juvenile court. The issue is one that we have previously…