Increasingly, lawyers admitted to practice in Federal courts may be faced with court appointments to represent prisoners who seek to maintain collateral attacks on their criminal conviction through petitions for a writ of habeas corpus or through motions to attack sentence under the U.S. Code. The book looks in detail at the responsibilities of habeas corpus lawyers and at the meaning and application of current law. The focus is on Federal power and policy questions related to the historical use of the writ of habeas corpus and its appropriate modern scope. The book also examines prisoner challenges of Federal and State convictions with attention paid to custody requirements, cognizable claims, the exhaustion of remedies requirement, the availability of an evidentiary hearing, appealing a district court decision, and opportunities to bring delayed or subsequent petitions. Other topics of interest include prisoners challenging Federal and State convictions who actually litigate claims (fourth amendment and other constitutional claims), prisoners in Federal and State custody and procedural defaults (showing cause, prejudice, and miscarriage of justice), preparing and filing petitions and motions, and statutes and rules governing habeas corpus petitions. Footnotes