State Ex Rel. McCoy v. Wisconsin Court of Appeals

In this original action for a declaratory judgment, we are called upon to consider the constitutionality of sec. (Rule) 809.32(1), Stats. (1983-84),1 which requires that appointed counsel, upon determining that a criminal appeal would be frivolous, submit a brief to the court of appeals which includes an explanation as to why any issues which might arguably support an appeal lack merit. Petitioner Louis B. Butler, the public defender in this case who was assigned to handle the appeal of defendant Ellis T. McCoy’s criminal conviction, asserts that the defendant’s constitutionally protected…