Brief of the National Association for Public Defense, et al as Amici Curiae Supporting Petitioner, Christeson v. Roper (U.S. January 30, 2017) (No. 16-7730).

This case involves federal courts doubling down on the effective denial of counsel to a severely mentally impaired capital habeas petitioner on the eve of his execution, thereby preventing the full and fair litigation of an issue that demands this Court’s attention: the role played by a petitioner’s mental impairment in determining whether equitable tolling applies to the statute of limitations for filing a habeas petition. This Court should grant the petition to address whether the denial of adequate funding in this case constituted a constructive denial of the right to counsel required by the capital representation statute, 18 U.S.C. § 3599, the Constitution, and this Court’s decisions—including the previous decision in this very case. It did, and the issue matters not only in this case, but in every case where attorneys represent indigent clients with budgets subject to judicial control