Facts:  Petitioner Teddy Talley was convicted of murder in the Superior Court for Skamania County and sentenced.  Talley subsequently appealed his sentence, asserting that the Skamania County Jail’s failure to provide him with opportunities to earn good time credit while he was awaiting sentencing violated his rights under the equal protection clause of the 14^th Amendment to the United States Constitution.  The Washington Court of Appeals rejected Talley’s equal protection argument but held that Talley’s time served in the Skamania County Jail had been improperly calculated.  Talley appealed this decision to the Supreme Court of Washington.

Question(s):   Is the Skamania County Jail’s policy of restricting participation in programs through which inmates may earn good time credit to low and medium risk inmates, which prevented Talley from participating, unlawful?

Conclusion:  Justice James M. Johnson’s opinion for a unanimous Court reversed the Washington Court of Appeals, concluding that the Court need not reach Talley’s equal protection argument insofar as the Skamania County Jail’s policy violates Washington Revised Code §9.92.151, which requires that county jails provide opportunities for all inmates who have not yet been sentenced to earn good time credit toward early release.  Thus, the Court ordered that Talley be granted good time credit at the statutory maximum.

Docket No. 83284-6 (from Pierce Case No. 08-1-04680-1 & 08-1-04682-8)

Petitioner: Teddy Talley

(Counsel: Eric J. Nielsen and Casey Grannis)

Respondent: State of Washington

(Counsel: Ronda Denise Larson, Timothy Norman Lang, Daniel Clinton McGill, and Adam Nathaniel Kick)

Briefs:

Argument: Thursday, June 30, 2011 10:00am

[Source: TVW, http://tvw.org]

Decided: Thursday, September 15th, 2011

Prevailing Party: Teddy Talley (Petitioner)

Vote: 9-0

Citation: Pending

Court: Madsen2 Court (2011-)

Madsen

Johnson

Alexander

Chambers

Owens

Fairhurst

Johnson
(Majority)

Stephens

Wiggins