The 10th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled attorneys for those inmates are entitled to be paid with federal funds for their work on state clemency hearings.

In November, when the court considered the case, there were 34 Oklahoma private attorneys on a special panel, plus federal public defenders, who represented indigent inmates after their death penalty convictions.

There were 54 death row inmates in the most recent fiscal year who had cases pending that might lead to clemency hearings, Susan Otto, federal public defender in Oklahoma City, said at the time. She oversees the statewide panel of attorneys.

Monday's 8-3 ruling reversed a 2004 decision by U.S. District Judge Terence Kern in Tulsa. He concluded Congress did not intend to use federal funds for attorneys to represent inmates at state clemency hearings.

The defense attorneys, however, said other federal judges in Oklahoma had authorized federal funds for that purpose 47 times in the past 10 years.

The attorneys warned they would stop taking post-conviction death penalty cases if the appeals court did not come to their rescue. They said they could not financially afford to work on clemency hearings if they are not paid.

The state of Oklahoma does not pay attorneys representing indigents for that type of work.

The appellate judges in the majority, including Judge Robert Henry of Oklahoma City, concluded on Monday that Congress intended for federal funds to be used.

The majority judges quoted federal law that says attorneys appointed to represent death row inmates in post-conviction proceedings "shall represent the defendant throughout every subsequent stage of available judicial proceedings, including ... clemency."