Court Opinion

ID: 9559242
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-21 17:24:53.528529+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T09:10:11.628665
License: Public Domain

RICHARDSON, J.
I concur in the judgment under the compulsion of In re Estrada (1965) 63 Cal.2d 740 [48 Cal.Rptr. 172, 408 P.2d 948].
CLARK, J.
The question presented by this appeal is whether our general saving statute (Gov. Code, § 9608) is applicable when the statute under which the defendant was convicted is, in effect, repealed before judgment becomes final. The majority, relying on In re Estrada (1965) 63 *305Cal.2d 740 [48 Cal.Rptr. 172, 408 P.2d 948], hold section 9608 inapplicable. I dissent. Estrada, properly understood, does not support their conclusion. To the contrary, when Justice Peters’ majority opinion in Estrada is read in light of his concurring and dissenting opinion in People v. Harmon (1960) 54 Cal.2d 9, 27-33 [4 Cal.Rptr. 161, 351 P.2d 329], it becomes clear that Estrada supports the opposite conclusion.
The fundamental premise of Justice Peters’ argument, which was unsuccessful in Harmon but prevailed in Estrada, is that section 9608 “tells us that the Legislature intended that the offender be punished, but it offers no clue as to what statute shall be applied.” (Harmon, at p. 30.) Permitting defendant to entirely escape punishment for her offense is, of course, inconsistent with this premise.
In Harmon, Justice Peters distinguished three types of cases: (1) The statute under which the defendant was convicted is repealed pending appeal. (2) The statute under which the defendant was convicted is amended, pending appeal, by increasing the punishment. (3) The statute under which the defendant was convicted is amended, pending appeal, by decreasing the punishment. Justice Peters’ ultimate conclusion in Harmon, as well as Estrada, is that the considerations leading to the application of section 9608 in case (2) do not compel its application in case (3). However, in the course of reaching this conclusion, Justice Peters expressly affirmed that section 9608 applies to case (1), i.e., this case.
Case (2) is unlike case (3) in this respect: the constitutional prohibition against ex post facto laws prevents application of an amended statute increasing punishment to crimes already committed, but does not prevent application to such crimes of an amended statute decreasing punishment. Therefore, Justice Peters concluded, the Legislature’s intent, expressed in section 9608, that the offender be punished can only be given effect in case (2) under the old law whereás in case (3) it can be given effect under the new law as well.
“In both situations, that is, where the amendment increases or decreases the punishment, we are required to ascertain the legislative intent. The saving clause tells us that the Legislature intended that the offender be punished, but it offers no clue as to what statute shall be applied. Where the amended statute increases the punishment the amended statute cannot constitutionally be applied to the punishment of *306crimes already committed, because of the constitutional inhibition against ex post facto laws. Therefore, it is obvious that the saving clause must be interpreted as disclosing an intent that the offender shall be punished under the old law because that is the only law, constitutionally, under which he can be punished. In such a situation the saving clause is the conclusive factor. But that is not so where the amendment mitigates the punishment. In such a situation the offender, constitutionally, can be punished under either the old or the amended law. Now the saving clause is of no help at all. It simply tells us that the Legislature intended that the offender should be punished, but it gives no indication at all as to which statute shall apply.” (Harmon at pp. 30-31.)
Case (1) is like case (2) in this respect: there is no question as to which law the Legislature intended the offender to be punished under. The prohibition against ex post facto laws eliminates the new law from consideration when an amendment increases the punishment. When a statute is repealed there is no new law to enter into consideration. In both cases, therefore, the Legislature’s intent that the offender be punished, expressed in section 9608, can only be given effect under the old law. “In both of the situations . . . ,' if there is a saving clause, the offender may be punished under the old law. This is so because the saving clause has expressed an intent that, even though the old statute has been repealed or amended, the offender is to be punished, and since the only law under which he can be punished is the old law, he is to be punished under that law.” (Harmon at p. 28.)
Justice Peters reaffirmed this principle in Estrada. “A reading of [section 9608] demonstrates that the Legislature . . . positively expressed its intent that an offender of a law that has been repealed or amended should be punished . . . .” (63 Cal.2d at pp. 747-748.) Reversing defendant’s conviction, therefore, is inconsistent with Estrada.
The majority profess to find support for their thesis—that general saving statutes such as 9608 are intended to apply only to instances of “technical abatement,” i.e., amendment of a statute to increase the punishment—in Hamm v. Rock Hill (1964) 379 U.S. 306 [13 L.Ed.2d 300, 85 S.Ct. 384], In relying on Hamm, the majority lean on a slender reed. The high court there interpreted the federal saving statute in light of its understanding of Congress’ intent in enacting that particular statute. The court could not, and did not purport to, render an opinion as to what other legislatures must have intended in enacting their own saving *307statutes. Certainly nothing in Hamm gives us reason to overrule Estrada by interpreting section 9608 contrary to its plain meaning. Moreover, the consensus of the commentators is that the high court misinterpreted the federal saving statute in a transparent attempt to avoid the constitutional question presented by Hamm. (See, e.g., Note, Constitutional Law: Supreme Court Avoids Constitutional Question of State Action in Sit-In Cases by Extending the Doctrine of Abatement, 1965 Duke L.J. 640, 645-648; Note, Constitutional Law—Statutory Construction—Application of the Principle of Abatement To Avoid the Constitutional Question (1965) 50 Iowa L.Rev. 1254; Note, Constitutional Law—Civil Rights Act of 1964 Prevents Convictions for Peaceful Sit-Ins and Abates All Such Convictions That Are Subject to Direct Review at the Time of Its Passage (1965) 43 Texas L.Rev. 964, 967; Note, Constitutional Law—Abatement of Convictions Occurring Prior to Passage of Civil Rights Act of 1964 (1965) 18 Vand. L.Rev. 1574, 1579.)
Defendant’s conviction should be affirmed.
McComb, J., concurred.