Prisoner petitions - habeas corpus
Federal civil · Prisoner Petitions · 634,472 cases filed and closed (1988–present).
634,472
Cases filed
72.1%
Ended before a merits judgment
457,479 of 634,472 cases
2.5%
Plaintiff win
of 176,993 merits judgments
89.2%
Defendant win
of merits judgments
How they closed
- Dismissed59.4%
- Defendant win24.9%
- Transferred7.1%
- Settled2.7%
- Decided — other2.2%
- Other2.1%
- Plaintiff win0.7%
- Affirmed0.5%
- Remanded0.4%
- Mixed0.1%
- Denied0%
Where you file matters
The same claim resolves differently across districts. Plaintiff-win rate among merits judgments, busiest courts first.
- District Court, C.D. California47,500 cases · 14,000 decided2.3%
- District Court, M.D. Florida26,343 cases · 8,755 decided0.9%
- District Court, E.D. California24,493 cases · 6,786 decided1.5%
- District Court, N.D. Texas24,339 cases · 4,174 decided1%
- District Court, S.D. Texas20,620 cases · 5,124 decided1.2%
- District Court, N.D. California18,130 cases · 6,040 decided2.6%
- District Court, E.D. Michigan16,636 cases · 9,975 decided2.6%
- District Court, E.D. Pennsylvania15,997 cases · 14 decided—
- District Court, E.D. Texas15,622 cases · 280 decided3.9%
- District Court, S.D. Florida14,862 cases · 3,637 decided1.9%
- District Court, D. New Jersey13,429 cases · 5,698 decided2.9%
- District Court, S.D. New York13,250 cases · 3,499 decided3.8%
- District Court, M.D. Pennsylvania13,014 cases · 1,212 decided3.1%
- District Court, W.D. Texas12,585 cases · 1,269 decided2.1%
- District Court, D. Arizona12,431 cases · 8,094 decided1.5%
- District Court, E.D. Virginia12,347 cases · 1,861 decided1.2%
- District Court, S.D. Indiana12,344 cases · 4,853 decided2.9%
- District Court, E.D. New York10,989 cases · 2,696 decided3.2%
- District Court, D. South Carolina9,822 cases · 3,575 decided0.9%
- District Court, N.D. Georgia9,508 cases · 5,095 decided1%
- District Court, N.D. Ohio8,960 cases · 999 decided4.7%
- District Court, W.D. Pennsylvania8,925 cases · 2,790 decided2.4%
- District Court, W.D. Louisiana8,756 cases · 326 decided3.7%
- District Court, N.D. Florida8,681 cases · 3,674 decided0.8%
- District Court, D. Colorado8,649 cases · 759 decided4.7%
- District Court, W.D. Missouri8,399 cases · 1,159 decided3.5%
- District Court, S.D. California8,153 cases · 4,993 decided2.4%
- District Court, E.D. Louisiana8,126 cases · 5,244 decided1.9%
- District Court, D. Nevada7,859 cases · 1,402 decided4.8%
- District Court, N.D. Illinois7,672 cases · 2,185 decided4.3%
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.