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4 

JONES v. HENDRIX 

Opinion of the Court 

A 

In relevant part, §2255 provides: 

“(a) A prisoner in custody under sentence of a court 
established by Act of Congress claiming the right to be 
released  upon  the  ground  that  the  sentence  was  im-
posed  in  violation  of  the  Constitution  or  laws  of  the
United States, or that the court was without jurisdic-
tion to impose such sentence, or that the sentence was
in excess of the maximum authorized by law, or is oth-
erwise subject to collateral attack, may move the court
which imposed the sentence to vacate, set aside or cor-
rect the sentence. 

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“(e) An application for a writ of habeas corpus in be-
half of a prisoner who is authorized to apply for relief
by motion pursuant to this section, shall not be enter-
tained if it appears that the applicant has failed to ap-
ply for relief, by motion, to the court which sentenced 
him, or that such court has denied him relief, unless it 
also appears that the remedy by motion is inadequate 
or ineffective to test the legality of his detention.” 

In understanding this statutory text, “a page of history is 
worth a volume of logic.”  New York Trust Co. v. Eisner, 256 
U. S. 345, 349 (1921).  Section 2255 is an outgrowth of the 
historic habeas corpus powers of the federal courts as ap-
plied to the special case of federal prisoners.  The First Ju-
diciary Act authorized the federal courts “to grant writs of 
habeas corpus for the purpose of an inquiry into the cause
of commitment,” with a proviso that such writs could “ex-
tend  to  prisoners  in  gaol”  only  “where  they  [were]  in  cus-
tody,  under  or  by  colour  of  the  authority  of  the  United
States,  or  [were]  committed  for  trial  before  some  court  of 
the  same,  or  [were]  necessary  to  be  brought  into  court  to 
testify.”  Act  of  Sept.  24,  1789,  §14,  1  Stat.  82.    In  1867, 
Congress  expanded  the  federal  courts’  habeas  powers  to