Does section 654 of the California Criminal Code prohibit multiple punishments under the same law?

Section 654 prohibits multiple punishments for offenses arising from a single act or an indivisible course of conduct. (People v. Latimer (1993) 5 Cal.4th 1203, 1208.) It provides: "An act or omission that is punishable in different ways by different provisions of law shall be punished under the provision that provides for the longest potential term of imprisonment, but in no case shall the act or omission be punished under more than one provision. An acquittal or conviction and sentence under any one bars a prosecution for the same act or omission under any other." ( 654, subd. (a).) "[T]he purpose of

Page 13