Cite as: 528 U. S. 152 (2000)
Syllabus
ment deals strictly with trial rights and does not include any right to appeal, see Abney v. United States, 431 U. S. 651, 656, it necessarily follows that the Amendment itself does not provide any basis for finding a right to appellate self-representation. Faretta's inquiries into historical English practices, 422 U. S., at 821-824, do not provide a basis for extending that case to the appellate process because there was no appeal from a criminal conviction in England until 1907. Third, although Faretta's conclusion that a knowing and intelligent waiver of the right to trial counsel must be honored out of respect for individual autonomy, id., at 834, is also applicable in the appellate context, this Court has recognized that the right is not absolute, see id., at 835. Given the Court's conclusion that the Sixth Amendment does not apply to appellate proceedings, any individual right to self-representation on appeal based on autonomy principles must be grounded in the Due Process Clause. Under the practices prevailing in the Nation today, the Court is entirely unpersuaded that the risk of disloyalty by a court-appointed attorney, or the suspicion of such disloyalty, that underlies the constitutional right of self-representation at trial, see id., at 834, is a sufficient concern to conclude that such a right is a necessary component of a fair appellate proceeding. The States are clearly within their discretion to conclude that the government's interests in ensuring the integrity and efficiency of the appellate process outweigh an invasion of the appellant's interest in self-representation, although the Court's narrow holding does not preclude the States from recognizing a constitutional right to appellate self-representation under their own constitutions. Pp. 156-164.
Affirmed.
Stevens, J., delivered the opinion of the Court, in which Rehnquist, C. J., and O'Connor, Kennedy, Souter, Thomas, Ginsburg, and Breyer, JJ., joined. Kennedy, J., post, p. 164, and Breyer, J., post, p. 164, filed concurring opinions. Scalia, J., filed an opinion concurring in the judgment, post, p. 165.
Ronald D. Maines, by appointment of the Court, 526 U. S. 1110, argued the cause and filed briefs for petitioner.
Robert M. Foster, Supervising Deputy Attorney General of California, argued the cause for respondent. With him on the brief were Bill Lockyer, Attorney General, David P. Druliner, Chief Assistant Attorney General, Gary W.
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