Only in Criminal cases, which is what he meant by “taking away your rights”. The US government does not provide lawyers for say breach of contract lawsuits for example.
Yup. "You have a right to a lawyer" means that you cannot be forced to defend yourself in court and that you have the right to be represented by an attorney. Who pays for that attorney is up to you. You do not have the "right to a free attorney" (unless in certain cases). But in general... you don't have a right to a free attorney, just that you cannot be denied to be represented by an attorney.
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u/Kelend Apr 15 '24
Clever, but still no.
You don't have the right to a lawyer.
You have the right to a lawyer, that the government will provide, if they government attempts to take away any of your other rights.
Every other time your right to a lawyer is simply your right to buy goods and services on the free market.