A 25-to-life sentence imposed under Penal Code section 290 solely for failure to provide duplicate registration information is grossly disproportionate to the offense, shocks the conscience of the court and offends notions of human dignity, and therefore constitutes cruel and unusual punishment under both the state and federal constitutions. On remand from the Supreme Court, the Third District held that where the defendant had provided registration information to police when he changed addresses, but then failed to re-register a month later on his birthday, the Eighth Amendment prohibited punishing such a technical violation of section 290 with a life sentence under the three strikes law.
Case Summaries