The Supreme Court case Murray, Director, Virginia Department of Corrections, et al. v. Giarratano et al., 1988 revolved around the issue of whether death row inmates have a constitutional right to legal counsel during state post-conviction proceedings. Joseph Giarratano was sentenced to death in Virginia and sought assistance for his habeas corpus petitions but was denied by the state court system on grounds that there is no such provision under federal law or constitution. The U.S Supreme Court ruled in a 5-4 decision that states are not constitutionally required to provide attorneys for indigent prisoners during their post-conviction appeals process unless they can show that having an attorney would make a difference in their case outcome or if it's deemed necessary due to complexity of the legal issues involved.

In the dissenting opinion for Murray v. Giarratano, Justice William Brennan Jr., joined by Justices Thurgood Marshall and Harry Blackmun, argued that death row inmates have a constitutional right to legal counsel in post-conviction proceedings. They contended that due to the complexity of habeas corpus law and the severe consequences at stake - namely execution - unaided prisoners cannot be expected to navigate these proceedings effectively. The majority's decision not to guarantee counsel in such cases was seen as undermining both fairness and accuracy within capital punishment jurisprudence. Furthermore, they disagreed with the majority's assertion that there is no difference between capital cases and non-capital cases regarding this issue; they believed death penalty cases require more procedural safeguards because life itself is at risk. Lastly, they criticized Virginia’s system of relying on volunteer lawyers for providing adequate representation as unreliable.