Ruelas

Appellant Isaac Ruelas appeals from the denial of his request for relief from mandatory sex offender registration on equal protection grounds. He contends that mandatory sex offender registration for a juvenile who is adjudicated of violating Penal Code section 647.6 and committed to the Division of Juvenile Facilities only after committing another offense, but not for a juvenile who is adjudicated of violating section 647.6 and never committed to the Division of Juvenile Facilities, violates the equal protection clauses of the federal and state Constitutions.

We previously issued an opinion reversing the judgment. However, we granted rehearing when the People brought to the court’s attention a change in the law. We ordered the parties to file letter briefs addressing the effect of the change in the law on Ruelas’s equal protection challenge. We now affirm.

I. Factual and Procedural Background

In 1994, at age 14, Ruelas admitted committing felony assault with a deadly weapon (§ 245) and misdemeanor annoying or molesting a child (§ 647.6). Three years later, while Ruelas was still a minor, the juvenile court found true allegations that he had committed three felonies:…