United States v. Robert Eugene Lee

During recent years the federal courts have been deluged with petitions by state prisoners seeking writs of habeas corpus and petitions by federal prisoners seeking comparable relief under 28 U.S.C. § 2255 . Most of these petitions are prepared without the assistance of counsel, and as a result it is often difficult to tell just what legal ground for relief, if any, the petitioner has. Moreover, because principles of res judicata do not apply, many prisoners file repeated applications, a practice that seems to be accelerating.

In order to protect themselves against the often futile and always time-consum ing workload that these petitions entail, the district courts have adopted various expedients. One, which has become almost universal, is a rule of court requiring that considerable specified information be stated in the petition. The rule is implemented by a requirement that a prescribed form be used, and we have upheld such a requirement. Hooker v. United States, 9 Cir., 1967, 380 F.2d 5 . Such a rule (Rule 34) is in force in the Western District of Washington, from which this appeal comes.

In addition, the District Judge who received Lee’s petition has adopted a form of order…