There are two prerequisites for habeas review: the petitioner must be in custody when the petition is filed, and a prisoner who is held in state government custody must have exhausted all state remedies, including state appellate review.
Habeas corpus is one of the earliest common law writs. In its simplest form a writ of habeas corpus requires that a person who is in custody be brought before a judge or court and that they be able to challenge that custody. The writ of habeas corpus is used to attack an unlawful detention or illegal imprisonment.
The court must rule on a petition for writ of habeas corpus within 60 days after the petition is filed. (B) If the court fails to rule on the petition within 60 days of its filing, the petitioner may file a notice and request for ruling.
State every ground (reason) that supports your claim that you are being held in violation of the Constitution, laws, or treaties of the United States. Attach additional pages if you have more than four grounds. State the facts supporting each ground. Any legal arguments must be submitted in a separate memorandum.
A habeas corpus petition attacking a criminal conviction or sentence shall be filed within two years from the date of final judgment in the trial court or within one year from either final disposition of the direct appeal in state court or the time for filing such appeal has expired, whichever is later.
Whether you are a state or federal prisoner, a federal habeas petition claims that your imprisonment is illegal because your arrest, trial, or sentence violated federal law. This would be true if any aspect of your arrest, trial, or actual sentence violated a federal statute, treaty, or the U.S. Constitution.
Article I, Section 9, Clause 2: The Privilege of the Writ of Habeas Corpus shall not be suspended, unless when in Cases of Rebellion or Invasion the public Safety may require it. See ArtIII.
Rumsfeld (2004) the U.S. Supreme Court re-confirmed the right of every American citizen to access habeas corpus even when declared to be an enemy combatant. The Court affirmed the basic principle that habeas corpus could not be revoked in the case of a citizen.
28 U.S.C. § 2244(d)(1) provides for a one-year statute of limitations (deadline) for filing federal habeas corpus petitions.