In re the Personal Restraint of Matteson

— In 1999, the Washington Department of Corrections (DOC) transferred 254 inmates to the private Crowley County Correctional Facility (Crowley) in Olney Springs, Colorado. Many of those inmates have filed, pro se, personal restraint petitions with this court contesting the legality of their transfer. Review has been granted, and counsel appointed, for three representative petitions from Jason Hull, Michael Matteson, and Russell Taylor. Together petitioners argue that the Legislature improperly granted the DOC the authority to transfer them to Crowley. In the alternative, they argue that due…