Opinion ID: 2633256
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: remedy for the equal protection violation

Text: When a court concludes that a statutory classification violates the constitutional guarantee of equal protection of the laws, it has a choice of remedies. (See Califano v. Westcott (1979) 443 U.S. 76, 89-91, 99 S.Ct. 2655, 61 L.Ed.2d 382 [court may either withdraw benefits of welfare statute from favored class or extend those benefits to excluded class]; Heckler v. Mathews (1984) 465 U.S. 728, 740, 104 S.Ct. 1387, 79 L.Ed.2d 646 [same]; People v. Liberta (1984) 64 N.Y.2d 152, 485 N.Y.S.2d 207, 474 N.E.2d 567, 578 [court can either invalidate rape statute or expand it to include spousal rape].) Defendant argues that the appropriate remedy here is to eliminate section 290's mandatory lifetime registration for those convicted of voluntary oral copulation with 16- to 17-year-old minors. The Attorney General points out two other alternatives: One is to reform section 290 by adding a mandatory lifetime registration requirement for persons convicted of voluntary sexual intercourse with minors ages 16 or 17 years of age, thus treating such persons the same as those convicted of voluntary oral copulation with such minors; the other is to invalidate the mandatory lifetime registration provisions in section 290 as a whole. In choosing the proper remedy for an equal protection violation, our primary concern is to ascertain, as best we can, which alternative the Legislature would prefer. ( Kopp v. Fair Pol. Practices Com. (1995) 11 Cal.4th 607, 651, 47 Cal.Rptr.2d 108, 905 P.2d 1248 (lead opn. of Lucas, C.J.); id. at p. 685, 47 Cal.Rptr.2d 108, 905 P.2d 1248 (conc. & dis. opn. of Baxter, J.); Hayes v. Superior Court (1971) 6 Cal.3d 216, 224, 98 Cal.Rptr. 449, 490 P.2d 1137; People v. Liberta, supra, 485 N.Y.S.2d 207, 474 N.E.2d at p. 578.) In some cases, a statute contains a severability clause that makes explicit the legislative preference (see Heckler v. Mathews, supra, 465 U.S. at pp. 739-740, 104 S.Ct. 1387; In re Blaney (1947) 30 Cal.2d 643, 654-655, 184 P.2d 892), but we find no such clause in section 290. We reject out of hand the option of declaring section 290's mandatory lifetime registration provisions invalid as a whole. These provisions serve an important and vital public purpose by compelling registration of many serious and violent sex offenders who require continued public surveillance. Total invalidation of section 290's mandatory registration provisions would undoubtedly be unacceptable to the Legislature. (See People v. Liberta, supra, 485 N.Y.S.2d 207, 474 N.E.2d at p. 580 [New York Court of Appeals refused to invalidate New York's laws prohibiting forcible rape because they did not include rape by a spouse]; State v. Limon, supra, 122 P.3d at p. 40.) With respect to the other option mentioned by the Attorney General, that of reforming section 290 to extend the mandatory lifetime registration requirement to persons convicted of voluntary sexual intercourse with minors, we note that in the last 10 years the Legislature on three separate occasions has considered but rejected proposals to do just that. (See ante, 39 Cal.Rptr.3d at p. 835, 129 P.3d at p. 40.) Thus, the Attorney General's proposed option would conflict with the Legislature's intent. On the other hand, although the Legislature has amended section 290 frequently since its original enactment in 1947 (and once repealed and immediately reenacted the entire section (Stats.1985, ch. 1474, §§ 1, 2, pp. S403-S410)), there is no legislative history suggesting that since the Legislature's 1974 repeal of laws prohibiting all voluntary oral copulation, regardless of age or consent, the Legislature has ever turned its attention specifically to the application of the mandatory lifetime registration provisions to those convicted of oral copulation in violation of section 288a (b)(1). We conclude, for the reasons discussed above, that the Legislature would probably find elimination of section 290's mandatory lifetime registration requirement for persons convicted of oral copulation under section 288a (b)(1) for engaging in voluntary oral copulation with 16- or 17-year-old minors preferable to either eliminating the entire mandatory lifetime registration provisions of section 290 or imposing a mandatory lifetime registration requirement for persons convicted of unlawful intercourse under section 261.5 for engaging in sexual intercourse with minors 16 to 17 years old.