Facts
- Indigent Virginia death row inmates brought a class action under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 seeking state-funded counsel for state collateral (postconviction) challenges to their convictions and death sentences.
- Virginia provided death row inmates access to legal materials, access to institutional “unit attorneys,” and appointed counsel only after a state habeas petition was filed.
- The inmates argued these measures were inadequate in capital cases due to limited time, complexity of litigation, and the effects of impending execution on inmates’ ability to litigate.
- The federal district court ordered Virginia to create a program to appoint counsel, upon request, for indigent death row inmates seeking state habeas relief.
- The Fourth Circuit (en banc) affirmed, treating death-row “special considerations” as factual findings supporting additional assistance beyond library access.
- The Supreme Court granted review to decide whether the Constitution requires counsel for indigent capital prisoners in state postconviction proceedings.
Issues
- Whether the Due Process Clause requires a State to appoint counsel for indigent death row inmates in state postconviction (collateral) proceedings.
- Whether the Eighth Amendment’s special concerns in capital cases require appointed counsel for state collateral review.
- Whether the constitutional right of access to the courts requires States to provide counsel, rather than libraries or limited legal assistance, for capital postconviction litigation.
Decision
- The Supreme Court reversed and remanded, holding that neither the Eighth Amendment nor the Due Process Clause requires States to appoint counsel for indigent death row inmates seeking state postconviction relief.
- A plurality concluded the no-right-to-counsel rule for collateral review applies in capital and noncapital cases alike.
- The Court rejected the view that “meaningful access to the courts” mandates “continuous assistance of counsel” in state collateral proceedings.
- A concurrence agreed with the judgment based on the record indicating Virginia’s system had not left death row prisoners without representation for postconviction litigation.
Legal Principles
- The federal constitutional right to appointed counsel does not extend to state postconviction (collateral) proceedings, including in capital cases.
- The Eighth Amendment does not create a per se constitutional entitlement to state-funded counsel for collateral review solely because the sentence is death.
- The right of access to courts requires a reasonably adequate opportunity to present legal claims; it does not, by itself, require appointment of counsel for collateral attacks.
- States may provide counsel for postconviction proceedings by statute or policy, but the federal Constitution does not compel them to do so.
Conclusion
The Court held that States are not constitutionally required to provide state-funded counsel to indigent death row inmates in state postconviction proceedings; access-to-courts requirements may be satisfied without guaranteeing counsel for collateral litigation.