Meaningful Access for Indigents on Death Row: Giarratano v. Murray and the Right to Counsel in Postconviction Proceedings

• NCJ Number: 132937
• Journal: Vanderbilt Law Review Volume: 43 Issue: 2 Dated: (March 1990) Pages: 569-591
• Author(s): W H Brooks
• Date Published: 1990
• Length: 23 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Legislation/Policy Analysis
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

The 1989 U.S. Supreme Court decision holding that indigent death row inmates are not entitled to a court-appointed attorney throughout the postconviction process is constitutional, but the lack of such counsel demonstrates the inherently flawed system of capital punishment in use today.

Abstract

Under constitutional and statutory law, capital defendants are entitled to pursue habeas corpus actions and other postconviction remedies. Nevertheless, indigent offenders have traditionally not been entitled to a government-appointed lawyer for these proceedings. In Giarratano v. Murray, the Supreme Court held that the right of meaningful access to the courts does not require the individual appointment of an attorney throughout the process for an indigent defendant. Although this holding is constitutionally correct, the high success rate of postconviction actions shows that these petitions are crucial to a capital defendant and cannot be ignored. If the death penalty must be imposed at all, it should be imposed with the highest degree of accuracy. Until the states provide competent counsel for postconviction challenges of capital sentences, the Federal court system will continue to be overburdened with repetitive petitions for postconviction remedies. 157 footnotes