Court Opinion

ID: 9572161
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-21 20:39:14.024942+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T12:31:42.685647
License: Public Domain

*92Opinion
CLARK, J.
Petitioner seeks writ of mandate to compel the Attorney General to title and prepare summary of a proposed initiative measure.
Petitioner submitted a proposed initiative measure to the Attorney General for title and summary preparatory to obtaining signatures to qualify the measure for the ballot. (See Elec. Code, §§ 3502, 3503.) The measure would (a) make it unlawful for any teacher to strike; (b) prohibit campaign contributions by teachers’ organizations; and (c) prevent tax revenues from being used to provide transportation for purpose of racially balancing public schools.
The Attorney General refused to issue the title on the ground that the proposed measure concerns more than one subject thereby violating article II, section 8, subdivision (d), of the California Constitution. The subdivision provides: “An initiative measure embracing more than one subject may not be submitted to the electors or have any effect.”
The right of the initiative is “precious to the people and is one which the courts are zealous to preserve to the fullest tenable measure of spirit as well as letter.” (McFadden v. Jordan (1948) 32 Cal.2d 330, 332 [196 P.2d 787].) “To preserve the full spirit of the initiative the submission of issues to the voters should not become bogged down by lengthy litigation in the courts.” (Perry v. Jordan (1949) 34 Cal.2d 87, 91 [207 P.2d 47].)
In furtherance of the people’s power we have narrowly circumscribed the rights of ministerial officials to impede or delay the initiative process. Speaking of an acting registrar in Farley v. Healey, 67 Cal.2d 325, 327 [62 Cal.Rptr. 26, 431 P.2d 650], this court stated: “It is not his function to determine whether a proposed initiative will be valid if enacted or whether' a proposed declaration of policy is one to which the initiative may apply. These questions may involve difficult legal issues that only .a court can determine. The right to propose initiative measures cannot properly be impeded by a decision of a ministerial office, even if supported by the advice of the city attorney, that the subject is not appropriate for submission to the voters. ” (Italics added.)
The duty of the Attorney General to prepare title and summary for a proposed initiative measure is a ministerial one and mandate will *93lie to compel him to act when the proposal is in proper form and complies with statutory and constitutional procedural requirements. (Warner v. Kenny (1946) 27 Cal.2d 627, 630-631 [165 P.2d 889].)
The single subject requirement of article II, section 8, subdivision (d), involves difficult legal questions that only a court may resolve. (Cf. Perry v. Jordan, 34 Cal.2d 87, 92-93 [207 P.2d 47].) We are satisfied that a claim of violation of subdivision (d) is not merely a formal one, but is based on the effects of the contents of the proposed measure. Absent judicial authorization, the Attorney General may not urge violation of the single subject requirement to justify refusal to title and prepare summary of a proposed measure.
This does not mean that the Attorney General may not challenge the validity of the proposed measure by timely and appropriate legal action. We hold only that without prior judicial authorization he may not delay or impede the initiative process while claims of the measure’s invalidity are determined,  Petitioner is entitled to have his proposal titled and summarized so that he may commence seeking signatures to qualify it for the ballot.
We express no view as to the merits of the claim that the proposed measure concerns more than one subject.
Let a peremptory writ of mandate issue as prayed.
Bird, C. J., Mosk, J., Richardson, J., and Newman, J., concurred.