In In re Maston (1973) 33 Cal.App.3d 559, the court considered the constitutional challenge that imprisonment without parole for aggravated kidnaping constituted cruel and unusual punishment. Although recognizing the penalty in question was anomalous in that premeditated murderers could receive life imprisonment with possibility of parole, the court in Maston stated (at p. 563): "Arguments against the augmented penalty are available. One might urge that it encourages the kidnaper to kill his victim to prevent identification; that it rejects the rehabilitational objective of enlightened penology; or that kidnapers rarely consult the Penal Code. Absent empirical proof, such debates eventually wind up in a draw. The arguments for and against the social utility of the augmented penalty are settled by the Legislature's choice. Section 209 evinces a legislative hope that the augmented penalty may in some cases prevent physical harm. Even though it meets with as much failure as success, the hope is rational."