Does the denial of access to the courts by the Department of Justice to defend a civil case against a defendant who is not able to pay for a lawyer to represent him in court constitute a prima facie equal protection violation?

The denial of access also constitutes a prima facie equal protection violation. ⁵ Indigent prisoners are denied access to the courts to defend a civil suit, while free persons and prisoners possessing the means to hire counsel retain an access right. As has been established, to be heard in court to defend one's property is a right of fundamental constitutional dimension; in order to justify granting the right to one group while denying it to another, the state must show a compelling state interest. (Shapiro v. Thompson (1969) supra, 394 U.S. 618, 634, 89 S.Ct. 1322, 22 L.Ed.2d 600.)