Habeas corpus in the United States

In United States law, habeas corpus () is a recourse challenging the reasons or conditions of a person's confinement. Petitioning the government for habeas corpus is a right in the United States. Individual states may also afford persons the ability to petition their own state court systems for habeas corpus pursuant to their respective constitutions and laws when held or sentenced by state authorities.

Habeas corpus, permits a court to collaterally review the final judgment of another court in contrast to other writs like certiorari and coram nobis that provide direct review of a judgment. Federal habeas review did not extend to those in state custody until almost a century after the nation's founding with the Habeas Corpus Act of 1867. The petition for habeas corpus is filed with a court that has jurisdiction over the custodian, and if granted, a writ is issued directing the custodian to bring the confined person before the court for examination into those reasons or conditions.

For many decades, most federal habeas petitions have been filed by state prisoners seeking post-conviction review of state-court judgments, since most crimes in the American system have historically been matters of state law. Modern habeas corpus rules, emphasizing comity and finality, have narrowed the circumstances in which courts may exercise this jurisdiction. The modern federal habeas statute that resulted, as amended by Congress to codify some of these limitations, is found at 28 U.S.C. § 2241.