Justices to Review Medical Transport of Prisoner in Habeas Case

The Supreme Court agreed to consider if federal courts can order state prisoners transported for reasons besides trial testimony.

Granting review on Friday in the case of an Ohio prisoner approved for transport to a medical center for brain imaging, the justices can use the appeal to examine courts’ powers under the All Writs Act.

Ohio officials urged the justices to hear the dispute, writing that it implicates “the extent to which federal courts may interfere with the States’ criminal justice systems.” Federal law allows habeas writs for transporting prisoners only when necessary for testifying at trial, officials said in ...