Opinion
No. B251796.
12-26-2014
LA VOICE et al., Interveners and Appellants. LOS ANGELES POLICE PROTECTIVE LEAGUE et al., Plaintiffs and Respondents, v. CITY OF LOS ANGELES et al., Defendants and Appellants
Michael N. Feuer, City Attorney, James P. Clark, Chief Deputy City Attorney, and Gerald M. Sato, Deputy City Attorney, for Defendants and Appellants.
Richard Doyle, City Attorney (San Jose), Nora Frimann, Assistant City Attorney, and Elisa T. Tolention, Deputy City Attorney, for League of California Cities as Amicus Curiae on behalf of Defendants and Appellants.
Kamala D. Harris, Attorney General, Angela Sierra, Assistant Attorney General, Nancy A. Beninati and Anthony V. Seferian, Deputy Attorneys General, as Amicus Curiae on behalf of Defendants and Appellants.
ACLU Foundation of Southern California, Peter Bibring, Michael Kaufman and Lucero Chavez for Interveners and Appellants.
Silver, Hadden, Silver, Wexler & Levine, Richard A. Levine and Brian Ross for Plaintiff and Respondent Los Angeles Protective League.
Judicial Watch, Sterling E. Norris and Paul J. Orfanedes for Plaintiff and Respondent Harold P. Sturgeon.
OPINION
FLIER, J.
Harold Sturgeon, a Los Angeles County taxpayer, and the Los Angeles Police Protective League (League), an association representing sworn peace officers, seek to invalidate the Los Angeles Police Department's policy regarding impounding vehicles, "Special Order 7." The special order seeks to implement Vehicle Code sections 14602.6 and 14607.6 and directs officers when to use those sections and other state statutes governing impounds. We conclude that Special Order 7 is within the wide discretion of the police chief, and that neither Sturgeon nor the League has standing to challenge the chief's implementation of the state statutes. Because they lack standing to pursue this litigation, we reverse the judgment entered in favor of Sturgeon and the League. FACTS AND PROCEDURE
Undesignated statutory citations are to the Vehicle Code, unless otherwise indicated.
Two statutes governing unlicensed drivers are central to the parties' arguments in this case. Section 14602.6 allows a peace officer to impound a vehicle when the officer determines that a person was driving the vehicle without ever having been issued a driver's license. (§ 14602.6, subd. (a)(1) (section 14602.6(a)(1)).) And section 14607.6, subdivision (c)(1) provides: "If a driver is unable to produce a valid driver's license on the demand of a peace officer enforcing the provisions of this code, ... the vehicle shall be impounded regardless of ownership, unless the peace officer is reasonably able, by other means, to verify that the driver is properly licensed." The trial court concluded that Special Order 7 conflicted with these statutes and was therefore void.
1. Special Order 7
In Los Angeles, the board of police commissioners (Board) is responsible for setting policies, and the police chief is responsible for implementing the Board's policies. On April 10, 2012, the Board approved Special Order 7, which instructed officers when to impound vehicles driven by unlicensed drivers. Special Order 7 limits an individual officer's discretion to decide whether a vehicle should be impounded because it sets forth criteria for when a vehicle should be impounded and when the vehicle should be released. In addition to setting forth criteria for impounding vehicles, the special order informed officers which statute to use as authority for the impoundment.
Special Order 7's purpose was to "establish[] procedures for impounding vehicles from unlicensed drivers, and drivers with suspended or revoked licenses .... In addition, this Order provide[d] guidance regarding the enforcement of VC Sections 22651(p) ... and 14602.6(a)(1)...." The order instructed officers when to use section 22651, subdivision (p) as impound authority and when to use section 14602.6 as impound authority. It instructed officers when to impound vehicles and when to release a vehicle in lieu of an impound. If the driver had suffered a prior misdemeanor conviction, Special Order 7 required an officer to document "that the vehicle is eligible for vehicle forfeiture as delineated in Section 14607.6 VC." Special Order 7 also described the community care-taking doctrine, which delineates constitutional principles relevant to impounding vehicles, and the special order implemented other statutes governing impounds not relevant to the parties' arguments. The lengthy order is attached as appendix A, post, at page 920.
After the implementation of Special Order 7, the number of vehicles impounded pursuant to section 14602.6(a)(1) decreased substantially. Although the City of Los Angeles (City) claims other factors may have influenced the decrease, it is undisputed that the number of vehicles impounded pursuant to section 14602.6(a)(1) decreased from 28,796 in 2011 to 16,242 in 2012.
2. Parties
The Los Angeles Police Department has approximately 10,000 sworn peace officers. The League is an employee organization representing police officers, detectives, sergeants and lieutenants employed by the City. According to the League, it is the representative organization "with regard to all matters concerning wages, hours and work conditions."
The League's description is consistent with Government Code section 3504, which provides that the scope of representation of a local public employee organization "shall include all matters relating to employment conditions and employer-employee relations, including, but not limited to, wages, hours, and other terms and conditions of employment, except, however, that the scope of representation shall not include consideration of the merits, necessity, or organization of any service or activity provided by law or executive order."
The League sued the City and Charlie Beck, the chief of the Los Angeles Police Department. In its first amended complaint, the League sought a declaration that Special Order 7 conflicted with statutes governing unlicensed drivers. The League worried that peace officers could be liable for failing to enforce "mandatory law enforcement obligations under the California Vehicle Code respecting impoundment of vehicles driven by unlicensed drivers ...."
Respondent Harold Sturgeon is a resident and taxpayer in Los Angeles. Sturgeon sued the City, members of the Board in their official capacity and the chief of police of the Los Angeles Police Department in his official capacity. Sturgeon sought a declaration that Special Order 7 conflicted with sections 14602.6 and 14607.6. Sturgeon further sought to enjoin the Los Angeles Police Department from using taxpayer funds to enforce Special Order 7. Neither the League nor Sturgeon sought relief from any specific application of Special Order 7.
Appellants Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles (Coalition) and LA Voice intervened with permission from the trial court. The Coalition is a membership-based organization focused on immigrant rights. LA Voice is the Los Angeles affiliate of People Improving Communities Through Organizing, an interfaith community organization which seeks to empower local communities to transform their neighborhoods and improve the quality of life for their residents. Interveners and the City are collectively referred to as appellants. 3. Judgment
The court overruled the City's demurrers challenging, among other things, Sturgeon and the League's standing. The parties filed cross-motions for summary judgment. The court concluded that Special Order 7 was preempted by section 21 — the Vehicle Code's general preemption statute — and conflicted with section 14602.6 and 14607.6 and was void. The court permanently restrained the City and the Los Angeles Police Department from enforcing Special Order 7. This appeal followed, and this court granted appellants' petitions for writ of supersedeas and stayed enforcement of the judgment.
DISCUSSION
We begin with the requirements for taxpayer standing. We then discuss separately Sturgeon's and the League's standing. As noted, we conclude neither party has standing to challenge Special Order 7.
1. Taxpayer Standing Requires More Than a Mistake in Exercising Discretion
(1) Principles governing taxpayer standing are well established. "Code of Civil Procedure section 526a permits a taxpayer to bring an action to restrain or prevent an illegal expenditure of public money. No showing of special damage to a particular taxpayer is required as a requisite for bringing a taxpayer suit. [Citation.] Rather, taxpayer suits provide a general citizen remedy for controlling illegal governmental activity." (Connerly v. State Personnel Bd. (2001) 92 Cal.App.4th 16, 29 .) A taxpayer suit "seeks preventative relief, to restrain an illegal expenditure." (Ibid.) Code of Civil Procedure section 526a should be liberally construed to achieve its remedial purpose. (Blair v. Pitchess (1971) 5 Cal.3d 258, 268 [96 Cal.Rptr. 42, 486 P.2d 1242], superseded by statute on another ground as explained in Simms v. NPCK Enterprises, Inc. (2003) 109 Cal.App.4th 233, 242 .) Examples of authorized lawsuits include those alleging fraud, collusion, ultra vires transaction, or the failure to perform mandatory duties. (Harmon v. City and County of San Francisco (1972) 7 Cal.3d 150, 160 [101 Cal.Rptr. 880, 496 P.2d 1248].)
(2) Although Code of Civil Procedure section 526a must be broadly construed, it cannot be used to "trespass into the domain of legislative or executive discretion." (Harmon v. City and County of San Francisco, supra, 7 Cal.3d at p. 161.) In particular, courts have stressed that taxpayer standing should not be conferred when the taxpayer challenges "`political' issues or issues involving the exercise of the discretion of either the legislative or executive branches of government." (Humane Society of the United States v. State Bd. of Equalization (2007) 152 Cal.App.4th 349, 356 .) "`"[T]he term `waste' as used in section 526a means something more than an alleged mistake by public officials in matters involving the exercise of judgment or wide discretion. To hold otherwise would invite constant harassment of city and county officers by disgruntled citizens and could seriously hamper our representative form of government at the local level. Thus, the courts should not take judicial cognizance of disputes which are primarily political in nature, nor should they attempt to enjoin every expenditure which does not meet with a taxpayer's approval."'" (Id. at p. 356-357.) "Further, a taxpayer is not entitled to injunctive relief under Code of Civil Procedure section 526a where the real issue is a disagreement with the manner in which government has chosen to address a problem because a successful claim requires more than `an alleged mistake by public officials in matters involving the exercise of judgment or wide discretion.'" (Coshow v. City of Escondido (2005) 132 Cal.App.4th 687, 714 .) "`[C]ourts cannot formulate decrees that involve the exercise of indefinable discretion; their decrees can only restrict conduct that can be tested against legal standards.'" (Vasquez v. State of California (2003) 105 Cal.App.4th 849, 855 .)
In Sundance v. Municipal Court (1986) 42 Cal.3d 1101 [232 Cal.Rptr. 814, 729 P.2d 80] (Sundance), our high court considered challenges to the Los Angeles Police Department's "Special Order 23" and to then Penal Code section 647, subdivision (f), which governed persons found in a public place under the influence of alcohol. Special Order 23 was promulgated to effectuate Penal Code section 849, subdivision (b)(2), which according to Sundance at the time allowed "a police officer to release an arrestee from custody if the arrest was made without a warrant and the arrestee `was arrested for intoxication only, and no further proceedings are desirable.'"
Then Penal Code section 647, subdivision (f) provided "that every person who is `found in any public place under the influence of intoxicating liquor ... in such a condition that he or she is unable to exercise care for his or her own safety or the safety of others, or by reason of his or her being under the influence of intoxicating liquor ... interferes with or obstructs or prevents the free use of any street, sidewalk, or other public way' is guilty of disorderly conduct, a misdemeanor. However, public inebriates arrested under this provision can be diverted into treatment facilities as an alternative to criminal prosecution. Under section 647([f]) `[w]hen a person has violated [section 647(f)], a peace officer, if he or she is reasonably able to do so, shall place the person, or cause him or her to be placed, in civil protective custody. Such person shall be taken to a facility, designated pursuant to Section 5170 of the Welfare and Institutions Code, for the 72-hour treatment and evaluation of inebriates. A peace officer may place a person in civil protective custody with that kind and degree of force which would be lawful were he or she effecting an arrest for a misdemeanor without a warrant. No person who has been placed in civil protective custody shall thereafter be subject to any criminal prosecution or juvenile court proceeding based on the facts giving rise to such placement.'" ( Sundance, supra, 42 Cal.3d at pp. 1108-1109, fn. omitted.)