Provides detailed information and instructions for seeking relief via state habeas petition and for exhausting state-court remedies before proceeding to federal court to file a 2254 petition or an application to file a second or successive habeas petition. Includes state habeas rules and statutes for all 50 states.

Smith's Guide to Habeas Corpus Relief provides a complete reference for the entire process of filing Habeas Corpus appeals for state prisoners. It includes example documents and full information on time limits for every step of the process. Designed to be used by prisoners working on their own behalf, it also serves as a guide to monitor the progress and diligence of attorneys working for prisoners who may be less attentive to deadlines than desired. Blank forms and fully-detailed example forms are included. Step by step instructions walk anyone through the process from start, to the last form and addendum to be sent to the US. Supreme Court.

For those seeking to file a second or successive habeas petition under 2244 or 2255, based on newly discovered evidence or retroactive effect of a U.S. Supreme Court case, this book provides detailed instructions for preparing the application. WISDOM IS THE KEY TO SUCCESS Get Wise; Get a Smith's Guide(TM) All Smith's Guides are designed for the beginning pro se prisoner and the practicing pro se litigator alike and are complete with example pleadings from successful cases. Let Smith guide you step-by-step through the courts and do it right the first time--every time.

Federal habeas corpus is a procedure under which a federal court may review the legality of an individual's incarceration. It is most often the stage of the criminal appellate process that follows direct appeal and any available state collateral review. The law in the area is an intricate weave of statute and case law. Current federal law operates under the premise that with rare exceptions prisoners challenging the legality of the procedures by which they were tried or sentenced get "one bite of the apple." Relief for state prisoners is only available if the state courts have ignored or rejected their valid claims, and there are strict time limits within which they may petition the federal courts for relief. Moreover, a prisoner relying upon a novel interpretation of law must succeed on direct appeal; federal habeas review may not be used to establish or claim the benefits of a "new rule." Expedited federal habeas procedures are available in the case of state death row inmates if the state has provided an approved level of appointed counsel. The Supreme Court has held that Congress enjoys considerable authority to limit, but not to extinguish, access to the writ. This report is available in an abridged version as CRS Report RS22432, "Federal Habeas Corpus: An Abridged Sketch," by Charles Doyle.

Previous edition, 2nd, published in 1994.

Student's Guide to the Supreme Court examines the history of America's highest court using a three-part approach that is tailor-made for students new to the topic. --

The writ of habeas corpus is the principal means by which state prisoners, many on death row, attack the constitutionality of their conviction in federal courts. In The Body and the State, Cary Federman contends that habeas corpus is more than just a get-out-of-jail-free card—it gives death row inmates a constitutional means of overturning a jury's mistaken determination of guilt. Tracing the history of the writ since 1789, Federman examines its influence on federal-state relations and argues that habeas corpus petitions turn legal language upside down, threatening the states' sovereign judgment to convict and execute criminals as well as upsetting the discourse, created by the Supreme Court, that the federal-state relationship ought not be disturbed by convicted criminals making habeas corpus appeals. He pays particular attention to the changes in the discourse over federalism and capital punishment that have restricted the writ's application over time.