Herman Hayman v. United States

Hayman has filed here what he denominates “A Petition For Writ of Certiorari”, reciting that he seeks to review an order dismissing his application for a writ of habeas corpus in the United States District Court for the Western District of Washington, Southern Division, which he outlines in his petition. It is apparent that petitioner is a layman and that he has little conception of the office of a writ of certiorari or of the limitations upon the power of this court to issue this or any other writ under the “All Writs” statute. The action of the district court was not outside of its jurisdiction and hence ancient rules relating to certiorari would make it wholly inappropriate here. Since a denial of a petition for habeas corpus is an appeal-able order, no extraordinary writ can be justified here as an aid to this court’s jurisdiction. We find it unnecessary to determine whether we might consider the petition as the equivalent of the taking of an appeal for an examination of the application discloses that it fails to state facts sufficient to warrant the granting of the relief which petitioner prays for.

The petition states that on June 8, 1956, Hayman made application to the…