USCA11 Case: 20-13265 Date Filed: 02/02/2021 Page: 1 of 3
[DO NOT PUBLISH]
IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE ELEVENTH CIRCUIT
________________________
No. 20-13265
Non-Argument Calendar
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D.C. Docket No. 2:15-cr-00010-LGW-BWC-1
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
Plaintiff - Appellee,
versus
BOBBY JAMES COURSON,
Defendant - Appellant.
________________________
Appeal from the United States District Court
for the Southern District of Georgia
________________________
(February 2, 2021)
Before MARTIN, BRANCH, and ED CARNES, Circuit Judges.
PER CURIAM:
USCA11 Case: 20-13265 Date Filed: 02/02/2021 Page: 2 of 3
Bobby Courson, a federal prisoner proceeding pro se, appeals the denial of
his motion for compassionate release and the denial of his motion to appoint
counsel. Courson contends that the district court erred by refusing to appoint
counsel to litigate his motion for compassionate release, and that its refusal to do
so — coupled with COVID-19-related restrictions at the prison library —
amounted to an unconstitutional deprivation of access to the courts.1
We have held that a prisoner has no constitutional or statutory right to
counsel for an
18 U.S.C. § 3582(c)(2) motion for compassionate release.
Id. at
794–95. Although district courts “have the discretion to appoint counsel” for such
motions, that discretion is guided by factors such as the complexity of the legal
issues.
Id. at 795 n.4; see also United States v. Berger,
375 F.3d 1223, 1227 (11th
Cir. 2004). We review only for abuse of discretion the district court’s decision not
to appoint counsel. United States v. Webb,
565 F.3d 789, 793 (11th Cir. 2009).
The only legal issue that Courson says required counsel is whether the
18
U.S.C. § 3553(a) factors — which are part of the compassionate release decision,
see
id. § 3582(c)(2) — favored his release. That issue is not complex, and Courson
1
Courson has not challenged the merits of the district court’s denial of compassionate
release, so we do not address that issue. Timson v. Sampson,
518 F.3d 870, 874 (11th Cir. 2008)
(“[I]ssues not briefed on appeal by a pro se litigant are deemed abandoned.”).
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adequately presented argument on it without assistance of counsel. The district
court did not abuse its discretion by declining to appoint counsel.
As for Courson’s access-to-courts claim, he must establish plain error
because he raises it for the first time on appeal. United States v. Hano,
922 F.3d
1272, 1283 (11th Cir. 2019). To show plain error, the defendant must show,
among other things, that there is (1) an error (2) that is plain (3) that has affected
the defendant’s substantial rights.
Id.
Courson cannot establish that the district court erred, let alone plainly. For
starters, we have held that an “inmate alleging a violation of the right of access to
the courts must show an actual injury.” Bass v. Singletary,
143 F.3d 1442, 1445
(11th Cir. 1998). Courson timely filed his motion and adequately presented
argument, so the library restrictions he complains of did not “unconstitutionally
prevent[] him from exercising that fundamental right of access to the courts.”
Akins v. United States,
204 F.3d 1086, 1090 (11th Cir. 2000). And, in any event,
we apply rational basis review to prison regulations that restrict access to the
courts. Johnson v. California,
543 U.S. 499, 509–10 (2005). The prison’s
pandemic-related library restrictions are “reasonably related” to a legitimate
interest.
Id. at 510.
AFFIRMED.
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