Thompson v. Washington

Thompson v. Washington
Supreme Court of the United States
Decided October 17, 1977
Full case name	Thompson v. Washington
Citations	434 U.S. 898 ( more ) 98 S. Ct. 290; 54 L. Ed. 2d 185; 1977 U.S. LEXIS 3607
Holding
Appeal from Sup. Ct. Wash. dismissed for want of substantial federal question.
Court membership
Chief Justice Warren E. Burger Associate Justices William J. Brennan Jr.  · Potter Stewart Byron White  · Thurgood Marshall Harry Blackmun  · Lewis F. Powell Jr. William Rehnquist  · John P. Stevens

Thompson v. Washington, 434 U.S. 898 (1977), was a case dismissed by the Supreme Court of the United States for lack of federal question jurisdiction. ^[1]

Background

The case was on appeal from the Supreme Court of Washington, and it involved a second degree murder conviction based on the felony murder rule. ^[2]

Subsequent developments

Thompson v. Washington was cited in the later Washington case State v. Wanrow, 91 Wash.2d 301 (1978), as an endorsement of the constitutionality of the felony murder rule. ^[3]

References

1. Thompson v. Washington, 434 U.S. 898(1977).
2. State v. Thompson, 88 Wash.2d 13 (1977)
3. Bonnie, R.J. et al. Criminal Law, Second Edition. Foundation Press, New York, NY: 2004, p. 875