Espinoza

This case comes before this court for hearing and decision pursuant to an order granting transfer following certification by the appellate department of the superior court that such transfer appears necessary to settle important questions of law. (Cal. Const., art. VI, § 4e; Code Civ. Proe., § 988t; and Cal. Rules of Court, rules 61-65.) The question presented is stated to be “whether Section 903 of the Welfare and Institutions Code is unconstitutional in that it denies defendant-respondent herein equal protection of the law in violation of the Fourteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution and Article I, Sections 11 and 21 of the California Constitution.”

On May 4,1965, plaintiff and appellant County of Alameda filed its complaint in the municipal court against defendant and respondent, as the father of John Espinoza, Jr., a minor, to recover the cost of the care, support and maintenance of said minor. From an amended complaint filed June 30, 1965, it appears: that pursuant to an order of the juvenile court the minor was ordered detained on January 13, 1964, in juvenile hall, a county institution, and thereafter committed to Alameda County Boys’ Camp; that he had been…