For all other petitions, a responsive pleading must be filed with the clerk of this Court within forty days after service of the petition. (a) Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus.(a) Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus. First, a U.S.C. § 2254 allows us to file a petition for Habeas Corpus when the client is in custody under sentence of a state court and is in a state prison. Federal Habeas Corpus. The U.S. Marshal will transport, maintain custody, and produce a state prisoner in a federal criminal action. Entertain a petition for a writ of habeas corpus and history bears this out, as the court has yet to reach the merits of a petition since 1986.25. The AEDPA imposes a one-year time limit from the defendant's judgment date to file a habeas corpus petition (although other dates may apply).