Can a claim that a state appeal of a criminal conviction be unduly delayed be brought in a civil rights action?

Blair v. Mattel, 645 F.3d 1151, 1157 (9th Cir. 2011): claim that state appeal of a criminal conviction was being unduly delayed, could only be brought in civil rights since a favorable due process ruling could only mean a speedier appeal, and did not necessarily spell speedier release (attempting to distinguish between "substance" and "process" in a criminal case).⁵

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Thornton v. Brown, _F.3d_, 2013 WL 3927759 *5 (9th Cir. Jul. 31, 2013) (challenge to a condition of parole which does not affect speedier release from parole as a whole, properly brought within section 1983 jurisdiction).⁶