Earl L. Sweet v. Hoyt C. Cupp, Superintendent, Oregon State Penitentiary, James Arthur Henderson v. Hoyt C. Cupp, Superintendent, Oregon State Penitentiary

640 F.2d 233 Earl L. SWEET, Petitioner-Appellant, v. Hoyt C. CUPP, Superintendent, Oregon State Penitentiary, Respondent-Appellee. James Arthur HENDERSON, Petitioner-Appellant, v. Hoyt C. CUPP, Superintendent, Oregon State Penitentiary, Respondent-Appellee. Nos. 79-2693, 80-3104. United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit. Argued and Submitted Nov. 6, 1980. Decided Feb. 19, 1981. Gregory J. Christensen, Corvallis, Or., for petitioner-appellant. Thomas H. Denny, Asst. Atty. Gen., Salem, Or., for respondent-appellee. Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of Oregon. Before HUG and REINHARDT, Circuit Judges, and SMITH, * District Judge. REINHARDT, Circuit Judge: 1 Earl L. Sweet and James A. Henderson, state prisoners, appeal from the district court's dismissal of their petitions for writs of habeas corpus. Each raises an equal protection challenge to his state conviction. The district court rejected their constitutional claims on the merits. We do not reach the merits. Rather, we affirm the judgments of the district court for the reason that Sweet and Henderson failed to exhaust their state remedies. Proceedings Below 2 In 1976 Sweet was convicted of one…