In your petition, clearly explain why you are being held illegally. Federal habeas corpus is available for a state prisoner when a federal constitutional violation makes custody, or its conditions, unlawful.Habeas corpus is a kind of petition that you can file in federal court to claim that your imprisonment violates federal law. Powers,' 3 it has had an extensive history in the federal courts. The federal forma pauperis statute,' 4 substantially the same as the Illinois act, has in the. § 2255 is a modern descendant of the common law petition for a writ of habeas corpus. Secondly, you must present any and all claims to the State Court before bring them to a Federal Court (the exhaustion rule). A habeas petition may only be filed on behalf of a person who is "in custody" pursuant to the judgment of a State Court. This petition is available to both state and federal prisoners. Any federal court may grant a writ of habeas corpus to a petitioner who is within its jurisdiction.