WASHINGTON (AP) - The Supreme Court declined yesterday to decide whether poor death row inmates can get more free legal help at the expense of taxpayers.

The case, filed on behalf of three Texas men who already have been executed, questioned whether the federal government should pay for an inmate's legal bills during state clemency proceedings and some last-minute court appeals.

States must provide attorneys for indigent death-row inmates to file state-level appeals. The federal government pays for some appeals in federal courts.

But clemency appeals, filed to governors or state clemency boards, aren't covered by taxpayers. Poor inmates often get free clemency help from legal aid groups.

Defense attorneys contend a 1998 federal law requires death row inmates' lawyers to represent them through "every" stage of appeals.

"Without the assistance of a lawyer, people just can't make compelling cases to courts or governors about why they shouldn't be executed, even if there are strong facts and compelling reasons why an execution should not go forward," said law Prof. Charles Weisselberg at the University of California, Berkeley.

The Bush administration argued it makes no sense for the federal government to assist inmates in state clemency hearings.

Solicitor General Theodore Olson said states may not want federal courts getting into their business by appointing and paying for lawyers.

Kent Scheidegger of the pro-death penalty Criminal Justice Legal Foundation, said the government is "more than generous" with the representation it provides in capital cases.

"The government provides everything it is obligated to provide," he said.