Opinion ID: 77551
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Right to a Lesser Form or Alternative Form of Legal Assistance

Text: 24 The inmates argue, in the alternative, if they have no federal constitutional right to counsel for the preparation and presentation of their postconviction claims, the right of access to the courts nonetheless entitles them to some lesser form of legal assistance. However, the inmates have not identified within their complaint or briefs to this court the lesser form of legal assistance to which they are entitled. The magistrate judge concluded that this claim is the type of deficient protean claim foreclosed by Harbury. The magistrate judge held that the inmates failed to identify any existing claim which they lost or the presentation of which was hindered within the meaning of Lewis. 25 The inmates' failure to identify a lesser form of legal assistance is fatal to their claim. Essentially, the argument is similar to their right to counsel claim—systemic action frustrates the inmates' ability to investigate, prepare, and file their postconviction petitions. The inmates distinguish their claims from the backward-looking protean allegations raised by the plaintiff in Harbury. They allege that their claims are forward-looking, and as such, they need only identify a `nonfrivolous,' `arguable' underlying claim. See Harbury, 536 U.S. at 415, 122 S.Ct. at 2187 (citation omitted). However, it is the articulation of the access claim itself with which we are concerned. In essence, it is the State's failure to provide this lesser form of legal assistance that frustrates the inmates' ability to investigate, prepare, and file their claims. It follows that, in order to determine whether the inmates have alleged a valid access claim, we must determine whether the lack of this lesser form of legal assistance denied the inmates meaningful access to the courts. We cannot do so unless the inmates identify the lesser form of legal assistance to which they claim they are entitled. Therefore, the inmates are not entitled to relief on this claim. 26