In People v. Saffell (1979) 25 Cal.3d 223, a defendant committed as a mentally disordered sex offender (MDSO) argued in part that had he been sentenced as a criminal rather than committed as an MDSO, he would have been eligible to receive conduct credits pursuant to Penal Code section 2930 et seq.; he argued that exclusion from that benefit denied him equal protection. The Supreme Court disagreed. The court first restated the test to be applied in a review of legislative classifications under the equal protection clause: once it is established that a classification scheme affects a fundamental interest, the state must establish that it has a compelling interest which justifies the law, and then demonstrate that the distinctions drawn by the law are necessary to further that purpose. (25 Cal.3d at p. 228.) After acknowledging that the defendant's fundamental liberty interest was at issue, the court held that the state has a compelling interest in identifying and providing effective medical attention to those amenable to treatment who commit sexually motivated criminal acts, and in assuring the safety of the public. That compelling interest justifies the legislative determination not to expand the application of good time procedures to MDSO commitments. ( Id., at p. 235.) The court enumerated reasons for that determination. First, the concept of giving or taking away credits might interfere with therapy. Second, even without conduct credit, acceptable behavior in the hospital is encouraged by the possibility that the disruptive patient can be determined unamenable to treatment, and transferred to prison. Third, part of prison "good time" may be earned by participating in certain programs which may be unavailable in a hospital. Fourth, denial of "good time" credits involves an array of administrative requirements with which hospital personnel may be unable to comply; moreover, an administrative adversary proceeding might not further treatment. Finally, the concept of "good time" credit does not make sense in the context of an indefinite medical commitment period which can be extended if necessary. (Saffell, 25 Cal.3d at p. 234.) The Supreme Court held that a maximum commitment for treatment of a mentally disordered sex offender (MDSO) automatically keyed to the upper term for the underlying crime(s) and excluding conduct credits for the period of in-hospital confinement did not violate equal protection. In Saffell the court rejected an equal protection attack on Welfare and Institutions Code section 6316.1, pointing out that while fundamental interests of personal liberty are involved (Saffell, at p. 228 of 25 Cal.3d), the state has a compelling interest in the confinement of persons for the purpose of treatment rather than punishment (Saffell, at p. 229 of 25 Cal.3d). The court pointed out that being an MDSO is a status, not a crime, and confining such a person for the purpose of treatment rather than to punish him by sending him to state prison is not a violation of equal protection. The court concluded that a valid comparison cannot be drawn between a person committed for treatment of a mental condition and a person committed for punishment for having committed a criminal offense.