When Can I File a State Court Habeas Corpus Petition?

“Every person unlawfully imprisoned or restrained of his liberty, under any pretense, may prosecute a writ of habeas corpus to inquire into the cause of his or her imprisonment or restraint.” Penal Code § 1473(a); see also California Constitution, Article 1, § 11 (“Habeas corpus may not be suspended unless required by public safety in cases of rebellion or invasion”).

In other words, the scope of what type of complaints can be addressed through a petition for a writ of habeas corpus in state court is extremely broad.  A person in prison or jail can file a habeas corpus petition to get a court to order prison or jail officials to do something, such as vacating a disciplinary finding, granting conduct credits, providing medical care, allowing visitation, or transferring a prisoner to safe housing.  

State habeas cases usually have a title of “In re” followed by the name of the person who is the petitioner.

Any person who is “in custody” of California state or local officials may file a state petition for writ of habeas corpus challenging the judgment that is the basis for the custody or challenging the conditions of the custody.  Even a person who has been declared a vexatious litigant under Code of Civil Procedure § 391 still has the right to file a petition for writ of habeas corpus without any additional procedural barriers. In re Bittaker (1997) 55 Cal. App. 4th 1004, 1006, 64 Cal. Rptr. 2d 679.

People in state prisons and county jails are obviously “in custody.”  People who are on conditional release, such as people on parole, post-release community supervision (PRCS), or probation, and people released on bail or their own recognizance are also “in custody.” 

See generally People v. Villa (2009) 45 Cal. 4th 1063, 1069, 90 Cal. Rptr. 3d 244; In re Jones (1962) 57 Cal. 2d 860, 861, fn. 1, 22 Cal. Rptr. 478 (person on parole); In re Hochberg (1970) 2 Cal. 3d 870, 874, fn. 3, 87 Cal. Rptr. 681 (person on probation); In re Petersen (1958) 51 Cal. 2d 177, 181-182 (bail); In re Smiley (1967) 66 Cal. 2d 606, 612, 58 Cal. Rptr. 579 (own recognizance).

A person in custody also includes people who have been civilly committed to state hospitals under SVP or MDO laws. People v. Qawi (2004) 32 Cal. 4th 1, 12-13, 7 Cal. Rptr. 3d 780 (person classified as MDO challenged involuntary medication via habeas corpus); People v Johnson (2015) 235 Cal. App. 4th 80, 88, 185 Cal. Rptr. 3d 135 (SVP commitment may be challenged by habeas corpus); People v. Talheim (2000) 85 Cal. App. 4th 400, 404-405, 102 Cal. Rptr. 2d 150 (same).

Even a person who is physically in another state or in a federal facility may still be in California “custody” if the custody is authorized in some way by the State of California. People v. Villa (2009) 45 Cal. 4th 1063, 1073, 90 Cal.Rptr.3d 244; In re Shapiro (1975) 14 Cal. 3d 711, 715, 122 Cal. Rptr. 768 (person on parole was in state custody where he was in federal detention based on California parole detainer).

Habeas corpus cannot be used to seek money compensation for injuries or lost or damaged property.  See Flores v. California Dept. of Corrections and Rehabilitation (2014) 224 Cal. App. 4th 199, 206, 168 Cal. Rptr. 3d 204 (state tort lawsuit is a proper action to seek return of or compensation for property wrongfully confiscated as contraband); Escamilla v. California Dept. of Corrections and Rehabilitation (2006) 141 Cal. App. 4th 498, 509-510, 46 Cal. Rptr. 3d 408 (treating state habeas petition seeking compensation for lost property as petition for writ of mandate).  A person who is seeking money damages for injuries should file a federal civil rights (“§ 1983”) action or a state tort lawsuit.  A person who wants the CDCR to return or pay for property lost or destroyed by prison staff might file a state court petition for writ of, a state tort lawsuit for negligence or conversion, a small claims lawsuit, or in very rare cases, a federal civil rights action.

This article would not be possible without reference to the Prison Law Office’s excellent treatise, California Prison and Parole Law Handbook.  We thank the Prison Law Office for their work.