Cite as: 519 U. S. 102 (1996)
Opinion of the Court
convictions be susceptible to review by an appellate court, it cannot by force of its exactions draw a line which precludes convicted indigent persons, forsooth erroneously convicted, from securing such a review . . . ." Id., at 23.
See also Ross v. Moffitt, 417 U. S. 600, 607 (1974) (Griffin and succeeding decisions "stand for the proposition that a State cannot arbitrarily cut off appeal rights for indigents while leaving open avenues of appeal for more affluent persons."). Summarizing the Griffin line of decisions regarding an indi-gent defendant's access to appellate review of a conviction,4 we said in Rinaldi v. Yeager, 384 U. S. 305, 310 (1966): "This Court has never held that the States are required to establish avenues of appellate review, but it is now fundamental that, once established, these avenues must be kept free of unreasoned distinctions that can only impede open and equal access to the courts."
Of prime relevance to the question presented by M. L. B.'s petition, Griffin's principle has not been confined to cases in which imprisonment is at stake. The key case is Mayer v. Chicago, 404 U. S. 189 (1971). Mayer involved an indigent defendant convicted on nonfelony charges of violating two city ordinances. Fined $250 for each offense, the defendant petitioned for a transcript to support his appeal. He alleged prosecutorial misconduct and insufficient evidence to convict. The State provided free transcripts for indigent appellants
4 See, e. g., Williams v. Oklahoma City, 395 U. S. 458, 458-459 (1969) (per curiam) (transcript needed to perfect appeal must be furnished at state expense to indigent defendant sentenced to 90 days in jail and a $50 fine for drunk driving); Long v. District Court of Iowa, Lee Cty., 385 U. S. 192, 192-194 (1966) (per curiam) (transcript must be furnished at state expense to enable indigent state habeas corpus petitioner to appeal denial of relief); Smith v. Bennett, 365 U. S. 708, 708-709 (1961) (filing fee to process state habeas corpus application must be waived for indigent prisoner); Burns v. Ohio, 360 U. S. 252, 253, 257-258 (1959) (filing fee for motion for leave to appeal from judgment of intermediate appellate court to State Supreme Court must be waived when defendant is indigent).
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