495 U.S. 149 (1990) Cited 3,010 times 16 Legal Analyses
Holding that a third party does not have "standing to challenge the validity of a death sentence imposed on a capital defendant who has elected to forgo his right of appeal"
Holding that the Whitmore test should be understood to require a significant relationship between the would-be next friend and the real party in interest
Holding that a guardian ad litem is "absolutely immune in exercising functions . . . in which the guardian acts as an actual functionary or arm of the court."
Holding Rule 17(c) authorized appointment of Next Friend to represent minor plaintiffs whose "relatives have not moved to represent them in federal court" and where "there [was] no indication that they are willing or able to represent them"
Holding that state court's competency determination was presumptively correct where there was no evidence that inmate's mental condition had changed since the competency determination