Sivin

The defendant was convicted of the crime of forgery and has appealed from the judgment upon the sole ground that section 473 of the Penal Code is unconstitutional. It is argued that a corporation is a person within the meaning of section 470 of the Penal Code; that no punishment is provided for a corporation by section 473; that this constitutes an arbitrary discrimination between individuals and corporations; and that section 473 is therefore void and the judgment must be reversed.

It is well settled that a reasonable classification is permitted if the same be based upon a natural, intrinsic or constitutional distinction. As was pointed out in People v. Schomig, 74 Cal. App. 109 [ 239 Pac. 413, 414 ] :

In Martin v. Superior Court, 194 Cal. 93 [ 227 Pac. 762 , 765], the court said:

Without discussing the question as to whether a corporation could commit this particular crime, it is apparent that a general and uniform law, in the sense contended for by the appellant, cannot be made applicable in fixing the punishment for crimes of such a nature that any penalty short of imprisonment is entirely inadequate. If no distinction could be made between a corporation and an individual,…