Should appeals wait for inmates to be competent?  Associated
Press SHARE  By JESSE J. HOLLAND, Associated Press  WASHINGTON
(AP) — The Supreme Court seemed inclined Tuesday to eliminate
the authority of federal judges to indefinitely delay a death
row inmate's federal appeals in the hope that the convict would
become mentally competent enough to help his or her lawyer with
the appeals.  Inmates appealing state death sentences to federal
court have a right to a lawyer. But the courts have never said
whether the inmates have to be mentally competent enough to help
their lawyers with their federal appeals.  Lawyers for Arizona
death row inmate Ernest Gonzales and Ohio death row inmate Sean
Carter say the answer is yes, and urged the high court Tuesday
to rule that federal judges have discretion to hold up
proceedings until the inmates are ready. "The court's answers
should reflect the important principle that no individual should
lose potentially meritorious claims because of mental illness,"
said lawyer Scott M