Coles v. Ryan

In this appeal we consider whether the failure of the legislature to provide for the restoration of eligibility of one convicted of an infamous crime to hold a nonconstitutional office after the completion of sentence, while restoring eligibility to hold an office created by the constitution, is a violation of the equal protection clause of the fourteenth amendment to the United States Constitution.

On March 26, 1976, plaintiff Donald R. Coles was convicted of extortion in violation of 18 U.S.C. §1951 (1976) in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois and was…