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People v. Haendiges3/24/1983
a state hospital or other mental health facility irrespective of whether the underlying convictions are for felonies or misdemeanors. (See §§ 6316, 6325.1.) We conclude that the principle of equal protection of laws would preclude a court from sentencing a defendant to a continuous period of confinement in county jail on the basis of consecutive misdemeanor counts for a term longer than he would have received had the crimes of which he was convicted been felonies. The phrase, "which could be imposed," in section 6316.1 incorporates the same principle of equal protection into the computation of the maximum term of commitment by the Board.
"We conclude, therefore, that section 6316.1, when construed in light of the constitutional requirement of equal protection of laws, provides that when aggregating the terms of underlying misdemeanors to determine the maximum term of commitment, the Board must use the statutory maximum jail term for each misdemeanor offense. However, the maximum term of commitment may not exceed that which would obtain had the offenses of which the defendant was convicted been felonies. Thus, there is an upper limit on the maximum term of commitment in cases where one or more of several underlying offenses are misdemeanors. In the case of conviction for a misdemeanor where the offense has an alternate felony sentence, (see Pen. Code, § 17) an MDSO's maximum term may not exceed the maximum term which he would have received had the crimes of which he was convicted been determined to be felonies rather than misdemeanors. In the case of misdemeanors with no alternative felony punishment, the MDSO's maximum term may not exceed the maximum term which he would have received had the misdemeanors of which he was convicted been punishable as felonies under Penal Code section 18, i.e., with a minimum determinate sentence of sixteen months, two years or three years." (Id., at pp. 206-207.)
Any interpretation of California's statutory scheme of punishment which would lead to potential misdemeanor sentences, which are either clearly in excess, or proportionally in excess, of sentences for more serious offenses, might well deny a defendant so sentenced equal protection of the laws. "'The concept of the equal protection of the laws compels recognition of the proposition that persons similarly situated with respect to the legitimate purpose of the law receive like treatment.'" (In re Gary W. (1971) 5 Cal. 3d 296, 303 [96 Cal. Rptr. 1, 486 P.2d 1201].)
This concept is clearly embodied in the adult penal laws of California, as evidenced by Penal Code section 1170, subdivision (a)(1), which provides: "The Legislature finds and declares that the purpose of imprisonment for crime is punishment. This purpose is best served by terms proportionate to the seriousness of the offense with provision for uniformity in the sentences of offenders committing the same offense under similar circumstances. The Legislature further finds and declares that the elimination of disparity and the provision of uniformity of sentences can best be achieved by determinate sentences fixed by statute in proportion to the seriousness of the offense as determined by the Legislature to be imposed by the court with specified discretion." There is no reason to think that goal of uniformity in sentencing does not apply when the crimes involved are misdemeanors. Were such disparate sentencing possible in misdemeanor cases, a serious question of a violation of the constitutional prohibition against cruel or unusual punishment would aris
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