good federal habeas supplement? other supplements before starting as pro se clerk? Forum

[Anonymous User]

I'm starting soon as a permanent pro se clerk in a big, busy district. I have a lot of federal clerking experience, but not much with habeas (just the way tasks were allocated). Any recommendations on supplements that really provide a good overview of that area? I already have Chemerinsky. Also, any other suggested reading before beginning as a pro se clerk?

[enoca]

Not really a supplement, but ime, the best overall resource on Habeas is the Hertz/Liebman "Federal Habeas Corpus Practice and Procedure." It costs a million dollars to buy yourself a copy, but it's up on Lexis with your subscription. Worth at least familiarizing yourself with it.

[Internationalist]

Not really a supplement, but ime, the best overall resource on Habeas is the Hertz/Liebman "Federal Habeas Corpus Practice and Procedure." It costs a million dollars to buy yourself a copy, but it's up on Lexis with your subscription. Worth at least familiarizing yourself with it.

Thank you! I've also been looking for a good habeas treatise to deal with my Judge's backlog of habeas petitions.

[Anonymous User]

Your court might also have a decent-sized informal treatise about various topics. My COA had about 7 or 8 80-150 page binders explaining the standards for various points of law, and habeas was one of them. I don't know if the district courts had them too. I found them pretty invaluable.

[mjb447]

Your court might also have a decent-sized informal treatise about various topics. My COA had about 7 or 8 80-150 page binders explaining the standards for various points of law, and habeas was one of them. I don't know if the district courts had them too. I found them pretty invaluable.

The courts that I worked for usually had something like this. I'd start there if your district has one, since it's tailored to your jurisdiction re the procedural stuff (e.g., statutory tolling, proper exhaustion). Similarly, it's probably a good idea to read several opinions/R&Rs from your district just to see if there's a standard style on certain issues (and to frequently seek out samples/boilerplate once you start).