Opinion ID: 567185
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Proceedings in State and Federal District Courts

Text: 3 Appellant pled guilty in the Maine Superior Court to a five-count indictment charging violations of Maine law (theft, burglary and escape). He was sentenced to a total of eight years imprisonment. Appellant did not appeal from his conviction and sentence. However, he petitioned for state post-conviction review, contending that tit. 17-A of M.R.S.A. § 1253 violated the equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, as it allowed sentenced prisoners to earn good-time credits, but did not provide the same opportunity to those detained prior to trial because of inability to make bail. This, he argued, created a suspect class of indigent criminal defendants. Appellant's claim was denied by the Maine Superior Court and the Maine Supreme Judicial Court denied a certificate of probable cause to appeal. 4 Appellant then filed a habeas petition pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2254 in the federal district court, making the same contention raised in his state habeas motion. The district court dismissed the petition and denied a certificate of probable cause. We granted such a certificate, believing that the constitutionality of § 1253 amounted to a question of sufficient substance to deserve appellate scrutiny. We now affirm the judgment of the district court.