Document ID: ./input/supremecourt_opinions/opinions/boundvolumes/558bv.pdf
Page Number: 1034

1188 

RULES  OF  THE  SUPREME  COURT 

gether  with  any  other  document  essential  to  understanding 
the petition. 

(b)  The petition shall be served on every party to the pro­
ceeding  with  respect  to  which  relief  is  sought.  Within  30 
days after the petition is placed on the docket, a party shall 
ﬁle  40  copies  of  any  brief  or  briefs  in  opposition  thereto, 
which shall comply fully with Rule 15.  If a party named as 
a  respondent  does  not  wish  to  respond  to  the  petition,  that 
party may so advise the Clerk and all other parties by letter. 
All persons served are deemed respondents for all purposes 
in the proceedings in this Court. 

4.  (a)  A  petition  seeking  a  writ  of  habeas  corpus  shall 
comply with the requirements of 28 U. S. C. §§ 2241 and 2242, 
and in particular with the provision in the last paragraph of 
§ 2242,  which  requires  a  statement  of  the  “reasons  for  not 
making  application  to  the  district  court  of  the  district  in 
which the applicant is held.”  If the relief sought is from the 
judgment  of  a  state  court,  the  petition  shall  set  out  speciﬁ­
cally  how  and  where  the  petitioner  has  exhausted  available 
remedies  in  the  state  courts  or  otherwise  comes  within 
the provisions of 28 U. S. C. § 2254(b).  To justify the grant­
ing  of  a  writ  of  habeas  corpus,  the  petitioner  must  show 
that  exceptional  circumstances  warrant  the  exercise  of  the 
Court’s discretionary powers, and that adequate relief cannot 
be obtained in any other form or from any other court.  This 
writ is rarely granted. 

(b)  Habeas corpus proceedings, except in capital cases, are 
ex  parte,  unless  the  Court  requires  the  respondent  to  show 
cause why the petition for a writ of habeas corpus should not 
be granted.  A response, if ordered, or in a capital case, shall 
comply  fully  with  Rule  15.  Neither  the  denial  of  the  peti­
tion, without more, nor an order of transfer to a district court 
under the authority of 28 U. S. C. § 2241(b), is an adjudication 
on the merits, and therefore does not preclude further appli­
cation to another court for the relief sought. 

5.  The  Clerk  will  distribute  the  documents  to  the  Court 
for its consideration when a brief in opposition under subpar­
agraph  3(b)  of  this  Rule  has  been  ﬁled,  when  a  response