Hale v. Morgan, 584 P.2d 512 (1978)

Citation: Hale v. Morgan, 584 P.2d 512 (1978)
Parent Document: Hale v. Morgan, 584 P.2d 512 (1978)
Jurisdiction: California (state)
Effective Date: 1978-09-28
Original Source: https://www.courtlistener.com/opinion/1160324/hale-v-morgan/ ↗

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Defendant also urges that, unless properly construed, the statute violates equal protection principles because it discriminates arbitrarily against two classes of landlords—those who know of section 789.3, and those who do not. Defendant’s thesis is that no landlord who is aware of section 789.3 would dare violate it because the penalty is so severe. Thus in practical effect, it is argued, only landlords who are ignorant of the law are subject to its punishment, and this can serve no rational legislative purpose. Defendant interprets the use of the adverb “willfully” in *396section 789.3 as requiring that the landlord know that he is violating the law when he terminates the tenant’s utilities; otherwise, he contends, the statute must fail on equal protection grounds.

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