Your Forms: A Plain Guide

Women's Innocence Clinic · womensinnocenceclinic.com · Printed September 2026

Read this first. This guide explains, in plain words, how women in U.S. prisons ask a court to look at their case again. It is not legal advice, and we are not lawyers. Rules and deadlines are different in every state and change over time. Check every deadline with the court clerk or a lawyer. Mail in and out of prison may be read by staff. Do not write the facts of your case to anyone except your own lawyer.

Before you file alone

Most states allow one post-conviction petition. A petition filed in a hurry, with weak claims and no proof, can use up your only chance and bar stronger claims later. If your deadline is months away, first write to your state's public defender or appellate defender and to the innocence organizations in your state, and give them time to answer. If your deadline is close, file on time: in the petition, ask the court to appoint a lawyer and ask permission to add to the petition later. Missing the deadline is worse than filing a petition that is not perfect.

1. Why the papers matter

No court looks again on its own. A court acts only when you file a form asking it to. Courts call these forms petitions or motions.
You may not have a lawyer. You had a right to a lawyer for your first appeal. After that, the Constitution does not guarantee one. Some states give a lawyer once a petition is filed. You can ask the court for one, in writing, in your petition.
Deadlines are strict. A form filed one day late can be thrown out without anyone reading it.
You usually get one chance. Most states allow one post-conviction petition. Put every reason in it.
Plain words are fine. Judges must read papers from people without lawyers less strictly. That leniency does not extend to deadlines.

2. Which step are you on?

Read these in order. Stop at the first one where the answer is yes.

Were you sentenced less than a month ago? Act this week. The deadline to start an appeal is often 30 days or less, and only 14 days in federal court. Ask your trial lawyer to file a notice of appeal. If the lawyer does not answer, in most courts you can file the notice of appeal yourself with the clerk. It is a short paper saying you are appealing. Also see Step 2 below.
Did you plead guilty or no contest? Read section 4 first.
Is your appeal still going? Your appeal lawyer is handling it. Start gathering the records in section 6 now. The federal one-year clock has not started yet.
Is your appeal over, or did you never appeal? Your next form is the state post-conviction petition. The federal clock may already be running. Read section 5 today.
Did a state court already deny your post-conviction petition? You can usually appeal that denial to a higher state court, and the deadline is short. After the state courts finish, your next form is federal habeas corpus.
Has a federal court already ruled against you? Other doors remain: new evidence of innocence, changed science, a prosecutor's review unit, and clemency from the governor. Write to an innocence organization in your state.

3. The steps, in order

Step 1. Conviction and sentencing.

From this day, clocks start running on several papers.

Step 2. Ask for a shorter sentence.

Sentence review asks a panel of judges to review the length of your sentence, usually within a few weeks of sentencing. In some states, including Connecticut, Maryland, Massachusetts, Montana and New Hampshire, the panel can also increase it. In Rhode Island, asking for a reduction allows the Attorney General to ask for an increase. Sentence modification asks the judge who sentenced you to reduce it, usually within a few months.

Step 3. The direct appeal.

A higher court looks for mistakes in the trial. You have a right to a lawyer for this. The appeal cannot consider new evidence.

Step 4. The state post-conviction petition.

This is where most innocent women make their case. It raises what the trial record does not show: a lawyer who never investigated, evidence the prosecution hid, an expert whose science was wrong, new evidence. Each state sets its own deadline and calls it by its own name. Every claim you want a federal court to hear later must be raised here first. Build your proof here. Federal courts usually review the state court's decision on the record the state court had, and new evidence often cannot be added in federal court. Present your witness statements, records and expert reports in the state case.

Step 5. Federal habeas corpus.

After the state courts rule, you can ask a federal court whether your conviction violated the U.S. Constitution. The form is AO 241. If you were convicted in federal court, your form is a motion under 28 U.S.C. § 2255, form AO 243.

Other doors

Every state has a DNA testing law. Some states allow a new petition when the forensic science used at trial has changed. New York and Illinois have laws that let some survivors of domestic violence ask to be resentenced. A governor or pardon board can grant clemency.

4. If you pleaded guilty

A plea of guilty, no contest or an Alford plea counts as a conviction. After a plea, many states allow an appeal only on narrow issues. You can still use a post-conviction petition to argue that you did not understand the plea, that you were pressured, or that your lawyer gave you bad advice about it. Some states' innocence and DNA laws limit cases that ended in a plea.

5. Counting your federal deadline

The federal deadline is one year. It starts when your conviction became "final," and it pauses while a state post-conviction petition filed on time is pending. Example with made-up dates:

March 3, 2025	Sentenced. She appeals.
Oct. 10, 2025	The state's highest court turns down her appeal. She has 90 days to ask the U.S. Supreme Court. She does not ask.
Jan. 8, 2026	The 90 days end. Her conviction is final. The one-year clock starts.
June 1, 2026	She files her state petition on time. The clock pauses. 144 days used, 221 left.
Aug. 16, 2027	The state courts finish, including her appeal. The clock starts again.
March 24, 2028	Her last day to file the federal petition. File well before it.

What changes the count: If you never appealed, the clock starts when your time to appeal ran out, often 30 days after sentencing. A state petition filed after the state's own deadline does not pause the clock. A federal petition does not pause it either. When the count is close, ask a lawyer or the clerk to check it.

6. Gather these first

A family member can often get these faster than you can. Keep copies. Never mail the only copy of anything.

Your case number and the court that convicted you. It is on your sentencing papers.
The sentencing order (also called the judgment). The clerk of the court can send a copy.
Your appeal decision and its date, and whether you asked your state's highest court to hear it.
Your trial lawyer's file. It belongs to you. Write to the lawyer and ask for the complete file.
The trial transcript, the word-for-word record. If you appealed, your appeal lawyer may have it.
The docket, the court's list of everything filed in your case, with dates. The clerk can send it.
The records behind the case: the recording of your police interview, 911 calls, medical records, the autopsy report and the medical examiner's notes, photographs and lab reports.

Find out whether the evidence still exists. Physical evidence can be lost or destroyed years after a conviction. A family member can write to the court clerk, the police evidence unit and the crime lab or medical examiner, ask whether the evidence in your case still exists, and ask in writing that it be preserved. Keep copies of every letter.

7. Writing your petition

If there is a form

Answer every question. You do not need to cite law. Attach extra pages if you need room. The federal form asks, in order: your conviction (court, date, sentence, crimes, plea); your appeal; every other petition you filed; your grounds; the lawyers who represented you; and, if your conviction became final more than a year ago, why the petition is not late. The filing fee is $5. If you cannot pay, fill out the last page to ask to file "in forma pauperis," as a poor person.

Your grounds: the heart of the petition

A ground is one reason your conviction is unconstitutional. Write a one-sentence heading, then the facts: what happened, who did it, when, and how you know. The federal form says: "Do not argue or cite law. Just state the specific facts that support your claim." List every ground. One left out may be lost.

Example only, with invented facts Ground One: My trial lawyer did not investigate the cause of my son's injury.
Supporting facts: The emergency room doctor wrote in his notes that the injury could have come from the fall I described. My lawyer never spoke to him, never asked for his notes and never hired a medical expert. The state's expert was the only doctor the jury heard.
Attached: Exhibit A, the emergency room doctor's notes. Exhibit B, a signed statement from the doctor saying my lawyer never contacted him.

Attach your proof. A claim with nothing to back it up is often dismissed without a hearing. Many states require the proof to be attached, or an explanation of why it is missing.

If your state has no form

You can still file. Get a copy of your state's rule for post-conviction petitions and underline every "shall" or "must." Then write the petition in this order: the top of the page copied from your sentencing order (court, county, case name, case number) with the rule's title for the petition; who you are and what you are challenging; your appeal and every earlier petition; your numbered grounds with facts; what you ask the court to do, including a lawyer and a hearing; the oath or notary if the rule requires it; and a certificate of service if a copy must go to the prosecutor. Use plain white paper, one side, with margins, and number the pages. Some states differ: Arkansas requires a notarized affidavit printed in its rule and limits the petition to 10 pages; Virginia requires the form printed in its statute; in Oregon, a woman in prison files in the county where she is imprisoned. Kentucky, New Jersey, North Carolina and Ohio have free packets with sample petitions from the public defender or prisoner legal services.

Before you mail it

Sign it. You sign under penalty of perjury, so everything must be true.
Keep a copy.
Write down the date you hand it to prison staff for mailing.
Mail it early. Mail from prison is slow.

What the prison must give you

If you cannot afford them, the prison must provide paper and pen to draft legal documents, a notary to authenticate them, and stamps to mail them, along with a law library or help from people trained in the law (Bounds v. Smith, 430 U.S. 817 (1977)). Ask in writing, keep a copy, and if you are refused, file a grievance exactly by the prison's rules and deadlines, and appeal every denial.

8. Letters from the court

Order to show cause, or order directing a response	A step forward. The judge ordered the state to answer your petition. You can usually file a reply. The judge can still rule against you.
Order to amend, or deficiency notice	Something is missing or in the wrong form. Fix it by the date in the letter.
Dismissed without prejudice	The court did not decide your case. You may be able to file again. The deadline keeps running.
Denied, or dismissed with prejudice	The court ruled against you. You can usually appeal, and the deadline is short: 30 days after a federal ruling. To appeal a federal habeas denial, you must ask for a certificate of appealability.
Counsel appointed, or evidentiary hearing	The court gave you a lawyer, or will hear witnesses.

Keep every letter from the court and write the date it arrived on the envelope.

9. Writing to the court clerk

Clerks cannot give legal advice, but they can answer questions about the court's own rules and records. Write to the clerk of the court in the county where you were convicted. Include your full name, case number and prison number. You can ask: Does this court have its own form for a post-conviction petition? What is the filing fee, and how do I ask to file without paying? How many copies should I send? Does a copy have to go to the prosecutor? Please send me a copy of the docket.

10. Words you will see

Actual innocence: You did not commit the crime, or no crime happened.
Brady violation: The prosecution hid evidence that could have helped you.
Certificate of appealability: Permission you need to appeal a federal court's denial of habeas.
Certificate of service: A signed statement saying when and how you sent a copy to the other side.
Clemency: Mercy from the governor or a pardon board: a shorter sentence (commutation) or a pardon.
Docket: The court's list of everything filed in your case.
Exhaustion: Using up the state courts first. A federal court usually will not hear a claim the state courts never decided.
Final: The day your direct appeal is completely over, including the 90 days to ask the U.S. Supreme Court. The federal clock starts here.
Ground: One reason your conviction is unconstitutional.
Habeas corpus: Latin for "you have the body." A petition asking a court whether you are held in violation of the Constitution.
In forma pauperis: Latin for "as a poor person." A request to file without paying the fee.
Ineffective assistance of counsel: Your lawyer's work fell below a reasonable standard, and it likely changed the outcome.
Notice of appeal: A short paper that starts an appeal.
Petition, motion: A written request asking a court to act.
Pro se: Representing yourself without a lawyer.
Procedural default: A claim a court will not hear because it was not raised at the right time in state court.
Protective petition: A federal petition filed early so the deadline does not run out, with a request that the judge put it on hold until the state courts rule.
Tolling: Pausing a deadline.
Vacate: To cancel a conviction or sentence.

11. What we can and cannot answer

To ask for your forms by mail, write to us at the address below (a one-page request form is at womensinnocenceclinic.com, "Write to us from prison") with your full name, prison ID number, facility mailing address and the state where you were convicted. Do not describe the facts of your case. We mail the forms the day we receive a complete request.

We can: mail you the forms for your state; tell your family whether we mailed them; fix a missing or outdated form on our site.

We cannot: tell you which form to file, whether your deadline has passed, whether you have a case, or what to write. That is legal advice. The court clerk can answer questions about the court's rules and records. A lawyer or an innocence organization can answer questions about your case.

Women's Innocence Clinic · help@womensinnocenceclinic.com · 415-359-4454
Write to us: Women's Innocence Clinic, 4307 Regalwood Terrace, Burtonsville, MD 20866

This guide is general information about U.S. courts, not legal advice. Free. We do not accept donations.