Thompson v. Washington, 434 U.S. 898 (1977), was a case dismissed

Motion (legal)

In law, a motion is a procedural device to bring a limited, contested issue before a court for decision. A motion may be thought of as a request to the judge to make a decision about the case. Motions may be made at any point in administrative, criminal or civil proceedings, although that right is...

 by the Supreme Court of the United States

Supreme Court of the United States

The Supreme Court of the United States is the highest court in the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all state and federal courts, and original jurisdiction over a small range of cases...

 for lack of federal question jurisdiction

Federal question jurisdiction

Federal question jurisdiction is a term used in the United States law of civil procedure to refer to the situation in which a United States federal court has subject-matter jurisdiction to hear a civil case because the plaintiff has alleged a violation of the Constitution or law of the...

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The case

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

Felony murder rule

The rule of felony murder is a legal doctrine in some common law jurisdictions that broadens the crime of murder in two ways. First, when an offender kills accidentally or without specific intent to kill in the course of an applicable felony, what might have been manslaughter is escalated to murder...

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Subsequent history

Thompson v. Washington was cited in the later Washington case State v. Wanrow, 91 Wash.2d 301 (1978), as an endorsement of the constitutionality

Constitutionality

Constitutionality is the condition of acting in accordance with an applicable constitution. Acts that are not in accordance with the rules laid down in the constitution are deemed to be ultra vires.-See also:*ultra vires*Company law*Constitutional law...

of the felony murder rule.