Section 789

Citation: Section 789
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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Where, as here, a penal statute may be subject to both constitutional and unconstitutional applications, courts evaluate the propriety of the sanction on a case-by-case basis. We have said that a statute is presumed to be constitutional and that it must be upheld unless its unconstitutionality "clearly, positively and unmistakably appears." (In re Dennis M. (1969) 70 Cal.2d 444, 453 [75 Cal. Rptr. 1, 450 P.2d 296]; Lockheed Airport Corp. v. Superior Court (1946) 28 Cal.2d 481, 484 [171 P.2d 21, 166 A.L.R. 701].) (9) Was the application of section 789.3 to the present case and the assessment of a penalty of $17,300 against defendant for his conduct "clearly, positively, and unmistakably" unconstitutional? We hold that it was.

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