In Garvin v. Cochran, the U.S. Supreme Court considered whether a prisoner's constitutional rights were violated when he was denied access to legal materials and assistance in preparing his appeal. The petitioner, an inmate at San Quentin State Prison, alleged that prison officials had obstructed his efforts to prepare for an appeal by denying him access to law books and other resources necessary for drafting legal documents. He also claimed that he was unable to hire a lawyer due to lack of funds and the state did not provide one for him. The court ruled in favor of Garvin, stating that prisoners have a constitutional right under the Fourteenth Amendment’s Due Process Clause to meaningful access to courts which includes having adequate time and resources - including law books - needed for preparing appeals or petitions challenging their convictions or sentences. This ruling established important precedent regarding prisoners' rights while incarcerated.

The dissenting opinion in the case of Garvin v. Cochran, Corrections Director, 1962 argued that the petitioner's constitutional rights were violated due to inadequate legal representation during his trial. The dissenting justices believed that the defense counsel failed to provide effective assistance by not adequately investigating and challenging key evidence presented by the prosecution. They also pointed out that there was a lack of effort on part of defense counsel to present any mitigating circumstances or character witnesses during sentencing phase which could have potentially reduced petitioner's sentence. Furthermore, they criticized how quickly this capital punishment case was handled - from arrest to death sentence within two months - suggesting it did not allow sufficient time for proper preparation and presentation of an adequate defense strategy. Thus, they concluded that these factors combined resulted in a violation of Sixth Amendment right guaranteeing every defendant competent legal representation.