Billy Guice and Howard Claxton, Sr. v. Ray Fortenberry, Superintendent, East Carroll Parish Prison Farm

REAVLEY, Circuit Judge:

This is an appeal from a denial of a petition for a writ of habeas corpus filed pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2241. In October of 1979, Billy Guice and Howard Claxton were convicted of “unlawful use of a moveable,” a misdemeanor, in violation of La.Rev.Stat. Ann. § 14:68 (West 1974), which is a lesser included offense of theft under Louisiana law. State v. Reeves, 342 So.2d 605 (La. 1977). Each petitioner was sentenced to six months imprisonment.

Petitioners contend that their convictions cannot stand under the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment because the…