Title 28, Judiciary and Judicial ProcedureRelease 119-102
§2248 Return or Answer; Conclusiveness
Title 28 › PART VI — PARTICULAR PROCEEDINGS › CHAPTER 153 — HABEAS CORPUS › § 2248
Summary
Unchallenged claims in a habeas answer count as true unless proven false.
Full Legal Text
Title 28, §2248
Judiciary and Judicial Procedure, Source: USLM XML via OLRC
The allegations of a return to the writ of habeas corpus or of an answer to an order to show cause in a habeas corpus proceeding, if not traversed, shall be accepted as true except to the extent that the judge finds from the evidence that they are not true.
Legislative History
Notes & Related Subsidiaries
Historical and Revision Notes
Derived from H.R. 4232, Seventy-ninth Congress, first session. At common law the return was conclusive and could not be controverted but it is now almost universally held that the return is not conclusive of the facts alleged therein. 39 C.J.S. pp. 664–666, §§ 98, 99.
Reference
Citations & Metadata
Citation
28 U.S.C. § 2248
Title 28, Judiciary and Judicial Procedure
Last Updated
Aug 21, 2026
Release point: 119-102