In Barbour v. Haley, No. 06-10920 (Dec. 8, 2006), the Court rejected a claim under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 by indigent Alabama death-sentenced inmates that they had a constitutional right to state-appointed counsel or some form of lesser form of state-provided legal assistance in state post-conviction proceedings.
Relying on Murray v. Giarratano, 492 U.S. 1 (1989) (plurality opinion), the Court held that death-sentenced inmates had no right to counsel in postconviction proceedings. The Court also held that because the inmates failed to specify the lesser form of legal assistance which they claimed to be entitled to, this aspect of the claim also failed.
