Charles Anders v. Frank A. Eyman, Warden, Arizona State Prison

The appellants are fifty-two prisoners of the State of Arizona, confined by reason of state court convictions for a variety of offenses. In a single petition to the District Court, they sought habeas corpus relief under the provisions of 28 U.S.C. § 2241 . They prayed, in the alternative, “that a mandate issue directing'the State of Arizona, or its Supreme Court, to adopt or enact a statute or rule, affording these petitioners a clearly defined process whereby their respective claims can be adequately adjudicated.”

As grounds for their petition, the appellants alleged the following:

The appellants attached to their petition, as “Exhibit A,” an affidavit in which each, in a separate paragraph, made a representation of his own grievance. These averments were succinctly and very generally set forth. In the numbered paragraph of the affidavit which pertained to him, each appellant swore to the fact of his detention, the offense for which he was convicted, the particular Arizona court which imposed the judgment, and the date of his sentence. There then followed an averment, common to all, that “ [petitioner has not filed for any post conviction relief in any court of law in the…