CRM/LAW C165 Lecture 3: Lecture #3
3 May 2018
School
Department
Course
Professor
Writ of Habeas Corpus
• habeas corpus
o “you have the body”
o write of habeas corpus ad subjiciendum
▪ there are other habeas writs for moving bodies, i.e. from one
jurisdiction (state) to another
• habeas corpus – origins
o ancient writ – English common law – c. 1305
▪ power exercised by the King when the legal system screws up
▪ order by higher court issued to lower court, in the name of the King, to
produce the prisoner before the Royal Courts
▪ “The King is at all times entitled to have an account, why the liberty of
any of his subjects is restrained, wherever that restraint may be
inflicted”
• Blackstone
• habeas corpus – US law
o US Constitution, Article 1, Section 9
▪ “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”
o civil case (inmate v. warden) claiming the imprisonment of the inmate violates
federal law
• habeas corpus – US law
o unlike direct appeals, can consider issues inside or outside the trial record
(transcript)
▪ ineffective assistance of counsel
▪ juror misconduct
▪ Brady violations
▪ DNA exclusions, recanting witnesses, and other actual innocence
claims
• State & Federal Habeas
o usually state habeas occur 1st but not always
▪ timing is very complicated and deadlines can be defaulted
o state courts can try to resolve federal issues, but they may be overruled by the
federal courts
o state courts have final say over state law issues
▪ e.g. Cal. gay marriage
o issues not raised in direct appeal or state habeas are defaulted in federal
habeas
• federal habeas
o filed in Federal District Court
o if lost, can appeal to US Circuit Court
o if lost, can seek cert. in US Supreme Court
• AEDPA
o antiterrorism & Effective Death Penalty Act (1996)
o passed amid concern about delays in executions
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