Prisoner Petitions

By claim type

• Prisoner - civil rights

  731,260 cases · 180,611 reached a judgment
  2.2%

  plaintiff win
• Prisoner petitions - habeas corpus

  634,472 cases · 176,993 reached a judgment
  2.5%

  plaintiff win
• Prisoner - prison condition

  235,179 cases · 58,717 reached a judgment
  1.2%

  plaintiff win
• Prisoner petitions - vacate sentence

  227,130 cases · 71,783 reached a judgment
  11.6%

  plaintiff win
• Prisoner petitions - mandamus and other

  35,689 cases · 6,985 reached a judgment
  9.3%

  plaintiff win
• Habeas corpus: Death penalty

  6,388 cases · 1,499 reached a judgment
  8.9%

  plaintiff win
• Civil detainee

  2,368 cases · 696 reached a judgment
  0.9%

  plaintiff win

Source: FJC Integrated Database (public domain), via CourtListener — federal civil cases filed and terminated, 1988–present. Figures are descriptive statistics about how cases of a given type have closed in a given court. They describe the historical record — not a prediction or assessment of any specific case. Not legal advice.