Abstract
In 2008, the Supreme Court held that the Sixth Amendment permits a trial court to impose a higher competence standard for self-representation than to stand trial. The Court declined to delineate a permissible representational competence standard but indicated that findings of incompetence based on a lack of decisionmaking ability would withstand constitutional scrutiny. To date, no court or commentator has suggested a comprehensive competence standard to address the particular decisional context of self-representation at trial. Conceptualizing self-representation as an exercise in problem solving, this Article draws upon social problem-solving theory to identify abilities necessary for autonomous decisionmaking. The Article develops and applies a normative theory of representational competence to evaluate particular problem-solving abilities in light of competing norms of self-representation. It concludes by proposing a representational competence standard. Reprinted by permission of the publisher.
Recommended Citation
E. L. Johnston,
Representational Competence: Defining the Limits of the Right to Self-Representation at Trial,
86
Notre Dame L. Rev.
523
(2013).
Available at:
https://scholarship.law.nd.edu/ndlr/vol86/iss2/2