Thomas Winford Simmons v. A.L. Lockhart, Director, Arkansas Department of Correction

ARNOLD, Circuit Judge.

Jim Hunter Birch has applied for attorneys’ fees. Mr. Birch was appointed by this Court to represent Thomas Winford Simmons, an indigent federal habeas petitioner who was a death-row inmate in Arkansas. For almost two years Birch discharged his duties as appointed counsel faithfully and effectively. See Simmons v. Lockhart, 856 F.2d 1144 (8th Cir.1988); Simmons v. Lockhart, 915 F.2d 372 (8th Cir.1990). Birch’s fee request includes time spent before and after November 18, 1988. That is the critical fact in this case, because November 18,1988, is the effective date of a…