{
  "id": "RS22432",
  "type": "CRS Report",
  "typeId": "REPORTS",
  "number": "RS22432",
  "active": true,
  "source": "EveryCRSReport.com, University of North Texas Libraries Government Documents Department",
  "versions": [
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      "source": "EveryCRSReport.com",
      "id": 373403,
      "date": "2010-01-08",
      "retrieved": "2016-04-06T22:23:30.297697",
      "title": "Federal Habeas Corpus: An Abridged Sketch",
      "summary": "Federal habeas corpus is a procedure under which a federal court may review the legality of an individual\u2019s 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.\nCurrent 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 \u201cone bite of the apple.\u201d 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 \u201cnew rule.\u201d 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 yet to hold that a state death row inmate who asserts he is \u201cactually innocent\u201d may be granted habeas relief in the absence of an otherwise constitutionally defective conviction. The Court has made it clear in the case of the Guantanamo detainees that the privilege of the writ may not be legislatively extinguished unless there is an adequate substitute, Boumediene v. Bush.\nThis is an abridged version of CRS Report RL33391, Federal Habeas Corpus: A Brief Legal Overview, by Charles Doyle, without the footnotes or appendixes, and without most of the quotation marks and citations to authority found in the original.",
      "type": "CRS Report",
      "typeId": "REPORTS",
      "active": true,
      "formats": [
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          "encoding": "utf-8",
          "url": "http://www.crs.gov/Reports/RS22432",
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          "filename": "files/20100108_RS22432_9593a6a1c4224d232aa4592a8cf628acc41a3110.html",
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          "images": null
        }
      ],
      "topics": []
    },
    {
      "source": "University of North Texas Libraries Government Documents Department",
      "sourceLink": "https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metacrs8968/",
      "id": "RS22432_2006Apr28",
      "date": "2006-04-28",
      "retrieved": "2006-07-03T14:46:12",
      "title": "Federal Habeas Corpus: An Abridged Sketch",
      "summary": "This report discusses federal habeas corpus, which is a procedure under which a\r\nfederal court may review the legality of an individual\u2019s incarceration. It is most often\r\ninvoked after conviction and the exhaustion of the ordinary means of appeal. It is at\r\nonce the last refuge of scoundrels and the last hope of the innocent. It is an intricate\r\nweave of statute and case law whose reach has flowed and ebbed over time.",
      "type": "CRS Report",
      "typeId": "REPORT",
      "active": false,
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          "format": "PDF",
          "filename": "files/20060428_RS22432_8baced1c84cf332ad89145fa738f2378bdc4788e.pdf"
        },
        {
          "format": "HTML",
          "filename": "files/20060428_RS22432_8baced1c84cf332ad89145fa738f2378bdc4788e.html"
        }
      ],
      "topics": [
        {
          "source": "LIV",
          "id": "Civil liberties",
          "name": "Civil liberties"
        },
        {
          "source": "LIV",
          "id": "Habeas corpus",
          "name": "Habeas corpus"
        },
        {
          "source": "LIV",
          "id": "Criminal justice",
          "name": "Criminal justice"
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "topics": [
    "Constitutional Questions"
  ]
}