Court Opinion

ID: 9631877
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-22 10:53:41.627178+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T12:29:53.903822
License: Public Domain

EDMONDS, J.
I concur in the conclusion that, under
applicable principles, the petitioners were guilty of contempt. I base this concurrence solely upon the ground that Vernon’s suit against the city of Los Angeles was not filed within the ' time fixed by the injunction for complying with its provision.
The 'judgment in the abatement action required each city which did not provide its own sewage disposal facilities to complete “all arrangements necessary for the financing of its proportionate share of said new treatment plant” within 90 days. Vernon took no steps within the required time to comply with that order. However, prior to the commencement of the contempt proceedings, it filed an action against the city of Los Angeles seeking to avoid any liability for the cost of the Hyperion plant or to recover such amounts as might be due under existing contracts.
The injunction in no way restricts the “arrangements” *521which the city might make to meet its obligations. Any rights it has in the contracts sued upon are assets. Certainly if its position is upheld, it will be able to satisfy all demands which may be made upon it for payment of its share of the cost of the new treatment plant.
The course which Vernon took was open to it under the injunction provisions. In affirming the judgment in the abatement action, it was held: ‘ ‘ This is a proceeding initiated by the people of the State of California on behalf of the state itself, and on behalf of the State Department of Public Health, as well as other state agencies, against all named defendants, to abate a public nuisance. Therefore, the court rightfully refrained from passing upon any of the rights, obligations or liabilities affecting the various defendants by reason of their contractual relations with each other, and left those matters open for future adjudication in a proper proceeding. Although the aforesaid contracts concerned the disposal of sewage, the court would not be justified in this action to adjudicate the rights existing between the various appellants by reason of their contracts one with the other. Insofar as the judgment herein is concerned, if any of the appellants have any rights against the city of Los Angeles, or vice versa, by reason of any existing contract, such rights have been preserved and may be enforced in a proper action. All of appellants’ property and rights were preserved to them and the judgment in the instant action does not impair or violate any of their constitutional rights.” (People v. City of Los Angeles, 83 Cal.App.2d 627, 648 [189 P.2d 489].)
This language is said to have required the city “to settle or litigate those rights independently of compliance with the injunction decree.” Further, it is read as a determination of the present controversy.
I do not so interpret the opinion. The clear import of the decision of the District Court of Appeal is that the abatement action was not the proper proceeding in which to adjudicate private rights. The contract rights of all parties were specifically preserved. The question as to whether there were rights which would reduce or eliminate financial obligations under the injunction was specifically left open. It is clear that the only result of the abatement proceeding was to determine the duties of the respective defendants in abating the nuisance. Whether, as between each other, there existed n>Ms to have one assume the responsibilities of another, was *522not determined. Clearly an action to secure judicial determination of these rights was a possible “arrangement” which would comply with the injunction.
I, therefore, find no basis for holding that the petitioners are continuing to violate the injunction. At most, there was a mere technical violation of the court’s decree by the failure to sue within 90 days. There is no showing that, by the delay of a few days, the petitioners in any way impeded or subverted the ultimate purpose of the injunction. In a case such as this, where it is claimed that public officials have not performed their duties, sound public policy should require a much greater flouting of the court’s authority than the technical violation of one phase of the involved and complicated order of this case.
In my opinion, one claiming that a judgment of the kind here involved has been disobeyed should be required to show that the delay has in some way obstructed the fulfillment of the purpose for which the judgment was rendered. In the present ease, the failure to comply with the court’s order within the specified time has not delayed the abatement of the nuisance nor obstructed the carrying out of the court’s purpose. This is an additional circumstance which the trial court may well consider in determining whether the unexecuted portion of the judgment should be remitted.
I would modify the judgment by striking therefrom the order for the continuing imprisonment of petitioners G. W. Trowbridge, C. H. Mailliard, Genevieve Anderson and R. J. Furlong.