My suspicion from your second sentence is that you are getting into issues of the very arcane area of habeas corpus petitions and other prisoner's petitions which are subject to complicated statutory and case law restrictions. (law.stackexchange.com)
Amazon This anthology contains great «stories» by Synchronic authors Samuel Peralta («Liberty: Seeking a Writ of Habeas Corpus for a Non-human Being») and Jason Gurley, as well as Michael J. Sullivan, Tobias S. Buckell, and more... (Edited by John Joseph Adams) HELP FUND MY ROBOT ARMY!!! (susankayequinn.com)
Lee was freed on an unsecured bond in August 2014 after a federal judge adopted Carlson's report and recommendation and conditionally granted Lee's petition for habeas corpus relief. (abajournal.com)