Opinion ID: 1305204
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Because the superior court acted in excess of its jurisdiction in permitting the district attorney to prosecute these proceedings, a writ of prohibition must issue.

Text: (7) We have long recognized that the lack of jurisdiction, in the broad sense of this word, establishes grounds for our issuance of a writ of prohibition. ( Abelleira v. District Court of Appeal (1941) 17 Cal.2d 280 [109 P.2d 942, 132 A.L.R. 715].) In Abelleira we explained: `[I]t seems well settled (and there appears to be no case holding to the contrary) that when a statute authorizes prescribed procedure, and the court acts contrary to the authority thus conferred, it has exceeded its jurisdiction' ... Speaking generally, any acts which exceed the defined power of a court in any instance, whether that power be defined by constitutional provision, express statutory declaration, or rules developed by the courts and followed under the doctrine of stare decisis, are in excess of jurisdiction, in so far as that term is used to indicate that those acts may be restrained by prohibition or annulled on certiorari.  (17 Cal.2d at pp. 290-291.) (8) In the present case the Superior Court of Ventura County, in permitting the District Attorney of Ventura County to prosecute this case under the Code of Civil Procedure, contrary to the statutorily authorized procedures for such proceedings and in excess of his authority, failed regularly to conduct the proceedings. In so doing, it exceeded its jurisdiction. ( Menveg v. Municipal Court (1964) 226 Cal. App.2d 569 [38 Cal. Rptr. 232].) This case presents a disturbing instance of intervention by a public authority in an acrimonious labor dispute. By imposing the weight of his office and the advantages of the public purse on the side of management, the district attorney at one stroke relieves one of the civil litigants of the necessity of financing his half of the battle, deprives defendants of the right to jury trial which they enjoyed in the previous criminal prosecution, and simultaneously suggests that public order necessitates management success in this private civil dispute. From such acts, even when well-intentioned, spring some of the bitterest chapters in the social history of our nation. The Legislature of this state has wisely refrained from empowering the public officer in question to play this role. Let a peremptory writ of prohibition issue as prayed.