Rappard

OPINION Jose Angel Rappard appeals from a judgment pronounced upon the revocation of the probation previously granted him following his conviction (without judgment thereupon) of being an alien in possession of a concealable firearm and sentencing him for the offense. (1) This *Page 304 judgment is a final judgment of conviction and therefore appealable. (Pen. Code, § 1237 , subd. 1; People v. Delles, 69 Cal.2d 906 , 908-909 [ 73 Cal.Rptr. 389 , 447 P.2d 629 ].) The sole question presented for decision is whether the statutory prohibition of aliens from owning or possessing concealable firearms (Pen. Code, § 12021 , subd. (a) 1 ) constitutes a denial of equal protection of the law under the United States and California Constitutions. (See U.S. Const., 14th Amend.; Cal. Const., art. I, §§ 11, 21.) (2) It is well settled that the protection afforded by the Fourteenth Amendment's prohibition against a state's denial of equal protection of the law to "any person" within its jurisdiction extends to aliens as well as citizens of the United States. (See Graham v. Richardson, 403 U.S. 365 , 371 [ 29 L.Ed.2d 534, 541 , 91 S.Ct. 1848 ].) (3) Since classifications based upon alienage, like…

I dissent. The statute in question has been held constitutional in In re Rameriz, 193 Cal. 633 [ 226 P. 914 , 34 A.L.R. 51 ], People v. Cannizzaro, 138 Cal.App. 28 [ 31 P.2d 1066 ], and People v. Cruz, 113 Cal.App. 519 [ 298 P. 556 ]. In Rameriz, supra, the Supreme Court said at pages 649-650: "It may safely be assumed that in a general sense the reasons that induced legislation involved in the case at bar exerted an influence in the adoption of the enactments considered in the foregoing authorities. If rights in land may be denied to aliens by the state there would seem no reason why in the exercise of its police power it might not also protect itself against the ownership, traffic in and use of firearms by aliens. This inhibition might well tend to conserve peace and quiet, and in times of war as well as of peace serve to avoid the injection of such issues into the international relations of the federal government. "`Police power is the power inherent in a government to enact laws, within constitutional limits, to protect the order, safety, health, morals and general welfare of society.' (12 C.J. 904.) It is a well-recognized function of the legislature in the exercise of the…

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Jose Angel Rappard appeals from a judgment pronounced upon the revocation of the probation previously granted him following his conviction (without judgment thereupon) of being an alien in possession of a concealable firearm and sentencing him for the offense. This judgment is a final judgment of conviction and therefore appealable. (Pen. Code, § 1237, subd. 1; People v. Delles, 69 Cal.2d 906, 908-909 [ 73 Cal.Rptr. 389 , 447 P.2d 629 ].)

The sole question presented for decision is whether the statutory prohibition of aliens from owning or possessing concealable firearms, (Pen. Code, § 12021, subd. (a) ) constitutes a denial of equal protection of the law under the United States and California Constitutions. (See US. Const, 14th Amend.; Cal. Const., art. I, § § 11, 21.)

It is well settled that the protection afforded by the Fourteenth Amendment’s prohibition against a state’s denial of equal protection of the law to “any person” within its jurisdiction extends to aliens as, well as citizens of the United States:. (See Graham v. Richardson, 403 U.S. 365, 371 [ 29 L.Ed.2d 534, 541 , 91 S.Ct. 1848 ].) Since classifications based upon alienage, like those predicated upon…