Allen Jones v. B. J. Rhay, Superintendent of the Washington State Penitentiary at Walla Walla, Washington

Jones appeals from a denial by the District Court of the Eastern District of Washington of his application for a writ of habeas corpus seeking to have declared unconstitutional a criminal statute of the State of Washington covering manslaughter for violation of which he pleaded guilty and was sentenced to a term of 20 years. The statute is:

The statute defining what crimes are felonies and which are misdemeanors follows:

Jones’ contention of the ' unconstitutionality of the manslaughter statute is that it leaves to the full discretion of the sentencing court whether the offense is a felony or a misdemeanor. Washington law provides that a felon shall lose certain valuable civil rights such as voting (Washington Constitution art. VI, Sec. 3) whereas one convicted of a misdemeanor does not suffer these losses. The statute is contended to be an unconstitutional delegation of legislative powers and more importantly violative of the equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment since it provides for different treatment for persons similarly situated without a rational justification for dissimilar treatment.

There is no merit in this contention. The state court had no such…