Agricultural Prorate Commission v. Superior Court

88 P.2d 253, 31 Cal. App. 2d 518, 1939 Cal. App. LEXIS 669
CourtCalifornia Court of Appeal
DecidedMarch 18, 1939
DocketCiv. No. 6172
StatusPublished
Cited by10 cases

This text of 88 P.2d 253 (Agricultural Prorate Commission v. Superior Court) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering California Court of Appeal primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Agricultural Prorate Commission v. Superior Court, 88 P.2d 253, 31 Cal. App. 2d 518, 1939 Cal. App. LEXIS 669 (Cal. Ct. App. 1939).

Opinion

PULLEN, P. J.

This proceeding arises under a statute creating the Agricultural Prorate Commission (Stats. 1933, chap. 754, and amended, Stats. 1935, chaps. 471 and 743, and chap. 6, Ex. Sess. 1938.)

An application was made to this court for a peremptory writ of prohibition to restrain the Superior Court of the State of California, in and for the County of Sonoma, and the respondent judges thereof, from taking any further proceedings with respect to a temporary restraining order and [520]*520threatened preliminary injunction in an action brought by Dewey F. Beldocchi, individually, and as the president of the Sonoma Dry Wine Growers Protective Association, a voluntary association, against the applicants herein.

Upon the filing of'the petition this court issued an alternative writ of prohibition, and the matter now comes before us upon the application for a peremptory writ after hearing on the return of the alternative writ.

On June 6, 1938, a petition was filed with the Agricultural Prorate Commission requesting an election, under the provisions of the Prorate Act in the grape-producing areas of California, to determine whether or not. there should be instituted a prorated marketing program for grapes produced in this state. After a hearing an election was ordered by the Agricultural Prorate Commission, which was held July 29, 1938. After a canvass of the votes on August 8, 1938, and pursuant to the petition, the commission established Pro-ration Zone Number Two, approved a detailed marketing plan for the zone, and appointed a program committee to manage the affairs thereof. This committee met and organized, and determined the method, manner and extent of proration, appointed C. J. Carey as zone agent, and fixed September 1, 1938, as the date for the commencement of the program.

This program briefly provided that 45 per cent of all crushing grapes were surplus and were to be delivered to a surplus pool to be converted to brandy and alcohol, under the provisions of a government loan; the remaining 55 per cent of each of the producers of grapes were free tonnage to be disposed of by the producer as he saw fit.

The applicants, in seeking this writ of prohibition, urge three grounds: First, that the temporary injunction, as authorized by the trial court, is in excess of its jurisdiction in that it is based upon issues of fact as to the organization of the grape proration zone, which facts are not cognizable by the respondent court in the present action. Secondly, that the temporary injunction authorized by respondent court is in excess of its jurisdiction in that it attempts to protect the plaintiff and other unnamed persons from a lawful enforcement of a statute, in violation of the provisions of subdivision 4 of section 526 of the Code of Civil Procedure, and subdi[521]*521vision 4 of section 3423 of the Civil Code, which prohibits the enjoining of the execution of a- public statute by officers of a law for the public benefit, and, thirdly, the injunction authorized is in excess of the jurisdiction of respondent court as it runs in favor of unnamed persons who are not parties to the action.

Considering first the contention that the temporary injunction authorized by the respondent court is in excess of its jurisdiction, the application for the injunction does show it was based in part upon alleged defects in the creation of a zone. In regard to this point it is the contention of applicants that the respondent court is without authority to entertain issues relating to organizational defects and that such issues are cognizant only in quo warranto proceedings.

In regard to this point we feel bound by the rule enunciated in Agricultural Prorate Com. v. Superior Court, 5 Cal. (2d) 550 [55 Pac. (2d) 495]. In that case certain lemon growers sought, as did the grape producers here, a temporary injunction against the lemon prorate program on the ground that the proceedings taken in the formation of the zone were irregular. As a result of that hearing the superior court expressed its intention of granting the temporary injunction as prayed for. Thereupon the Prorate . Commission, the members of the Prorate committee and others, as applicants, instituted an action to obtain a writ of prohibition against the superior court and the judge thereof, commanding them to desist from further proceedings. In reply thereto the Supreme Court, in denying the petition, said:

“In the injunction suit before the respondent court the plaintiffs therein made the claim that the prorate district in which the applicants were purporting to act as officers was never legally formed or organized in that the petition for the formation of said district was never signed by the necessary two-thirds of the lemon producers residing in said proposed district or zone, and therefore the commission had no authority to make its order organizing said district without an election being held therein to pass upon the question of the formation of said district. This claim on the part of said plaintiffs was set forth in paragraph XX of their complaint in which it is alleged, among other things, that ‘said [522]*522petition was not signed by two-thirds - or more in number of the producers of lemons in California, nor by the owners of tw;o-thirds or more of the producing factors of lemons in California. ’ If that allegation is true, then the district was not legally formed or organized, and if it was not so organized, an injunction against the applicants restraining them from executing the terms of said act would lie. On 1he hearing of the application for a temporary injunction, an affidavit was filed which purported to deny the allegations of paragraph XX of the said complaint. There is nothing, however, in the record before us to indicate that the respondent court has ever passed upon the issue tendered by the allegations of said paragraph XX. In fact, it would be rather unusual for the court to finally pass upon an issue of fact on an application for a temporary injunction. This issue of fact, however, was presented by the plaintiffs in the injunction suit, and the court had jurisdiction to decide it. So far, it has never done so. The injunction suit is still in the respondent court, and that court has exclusive jurisdiction to hear and determine all undecided issues of fact presented by the pleadings in said suit. Should it determine that said district ivas legally organized and that the orders Avhich the plaintiffs in said action seek to restrain arc valid and binding upon those to whom they are directed, then it would be the duty of said court to deny the injunction and dismiss the suit. On the other hand, should the trial court find in favor of the plaintiffs in said suit upon the allegations of said paragraph XX, then it would necessarily follow that said orders would have no legal support and the defendants in said suit should be enjoined from enforcing them. For this reason, the application for a Avrit of prohibition directed to respondents restraining them from proceeding in said action should be denied.
“It is therefore ordered that the petition herein be denied, and the alternate writ heretofore issued be discharged.”

The applicants claim that the Supreme Court, in that opinion, was not passing upon the validity or propriety of the injunction proceedings, but were considering the constitutionality only of the statute. A reading of the case, however, does not bear out this contention.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Díaz v. Tribunal Superior
93 P.R. Dec. 79 (Supreme Court of Puerto Rico, 1966)
San Bernardino Fire & Police Protective League v. City of San Bernardino
199 Cal. App. 2d 401 (California Court of Appeal, 1962)
Financial Indemnity Co. v. Superior Court
289 P.2d 233 (California Supreme Court, 1955)
United Insurance of Chicago v. Maloney
273 P.2d 579 (California Court of Appeal, 1954)
Crane Co. v. Arizona State Tax Commission
163 P.2d 656 (Arizona Supreme Court, 1945)
Laisne v. California State Board of Optometry
123 P.2d 457 (California Supreme Court, 1942)
Ray v. Parker
101 P.2d 665 (California Supreme Court, 1940)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
88 P.2d 253, 31 Cal. App. 2d 518, 1939 Cal. App. LEXIS 669, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/agricultural-prorate-commission-v-superior-court-calctapp-1939.