 The Marshall Court heard six original habeas cases of a criminal nature . All of the cases involved detention in the District of Columbia and prior proceedings in the United States Circuit Court of the District of Columbia . Because the D.C. circuit court did not utilize the practice of riding circuit , certificates of division could not have been granted in these cases . In the first two cases , the Court held that it had jurisdiction to issue the writ in pre @-@ conviction situations . In the next two cases , the Court held that it did not have jurisdiction to issue the writ in post @-@ conviction cases . 
