Penal Code 1203.1 authorizes the sentencing court to impose a fine or county jail incarceration as a condition of probation. This fine or jail is not considered to be imposed on account of the conviction, however, but instead as a condition of probation. (See League of Women Voters of California v. McPherson (2006) 145 Cal.App.4th 1469, 1481 ["The defendant who has been placed on probation, therefore, is imprisoned by the court in a local facility as a condition of probation, not as a result of the conviction of a felony"].) This statute may be used only when the court "suspend[s] the imposing or the execution of the sentence . . . ." (Penal Code 1203.1; see (People v. Mauch (2008) ___ Cal.App.5th ___.) "Fixing the penalty for crimes is the province of the Legislature, which is in the best position to evaluate the gravity of different crimes and to make judgments among different penological approaches." (People v. Martinez (1999) 76 Cal.App.4th 489, 494.) "The definition of crime and the determination of punishment are foremost among those matters that fall within the legislative domain." (People v. Mills (1978) 81 Cal.App.3d 171, 176-177; accord, Tracy v. Municipal Court (1978) 22 Cal.3d 760, 765 ["the Legislature has the power and duty to define and classify crimes and offenses"].)

jurisdiction: 
Lower Courts of Ninth Circuit

 

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