Cite as: 528 U. S. 259 (2000)
Stevens, J., dissenting
brief, the Wisconsin court requires additional evidence of counsel's diligence. This requirement furthers the same interests that are served by the minimum requirements of Anders. Because counsel may discover previously unrecognized aspects of the law in the process of preparing a written explanation for his or her conclusion, the discussion requirement provides an additional safeguard against mistaken conclusions by counsel that the strongest arguments he or she can find are frivolous. Just like the references to favorable aspects of the record required by Anders, the discussion requirement may forestall some motions to withdraw and will assist the court in passing on the soundness of the lawyer's conclusion that the appeal is frivolous." McCoy, 486 U. S., at 442; see also Penson, 488 U. S., at 81-82.
In short, "simply putting pen to paper can often shed new light on what may at first appear to be an open-and-shut issue." Id., at 82, n. 4. For this reason, the Court is quite wrong to say that requiring counsel to articulate reasons for its conclusion results in "less effective advocacy." Ante, at 272.2
An appellate court that employed a law clerk to review the trial transcripts in all indigent appeals in search of arguable error could be reasonably sure that it had resolved all of those appeals "in a way that is related" to their merits. It would not, however, provide the indigent appellant with anything approaching representation by a paid attorney. Like
2 The Wende procedure at issue in this case requires a "summary of the proceedings and facts," but does not require counsel to raise any legal issues. People v. Wende, 25 Cal. 3d 436, 438, 600 P. 2d 1071, 1072 (1979); see also ante, at 265. This procedure plainly does not serve the above purpose, since it does not force counsel to "put pen to paper" regarding those things most relevant to an appeal—legal issues. Accordingly, and contrary to the Court's assertion, ante, at 280-281, this summary does not improve upon the procedure rejected in Anders—a "bare conclusion" by the attorney that an appeal is without merit. 386 U. S., at 742.
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