San Gabriel Valley Newspapers, Inc. v. Jenner

177 Cal. App. 2d 315, 2 Cal. Rptr. 184, 1960 Cal. App. LEXIS 2472
CourtCalifornia Court of Appeal
DecidedJanuary 22, 1960
DocketCiv. No. 23825
StatusPublished

This text of 177 Cal. App. 2d 315 (San Gabriel Valley Newspapers, Inc. v. Jenner) 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
San Gabriel Valley Newspapers, Inc. v. Jenner, 177 Cal. App. 2d 315, 2 Cal. Rptr. 184, 1960 Cal. App. LEXIS 2472 (Cal. Ct. App. 1960).

Opinion

FORD, J.

This is an appeal by San Gabriel Valley Newspapers, Inc., a California corporation, proprietor and publisher of The Covina Argus-Citizen, from a judgment modifying a prior judgment of July 31, 1952, with respect to the status of The Covina Argus-Citizen as a newspaper of general circulation.

[317]*317On July 31, 1952, by decree of the superior court, The Covina Argus-Citizen was adjudged to be a newspaper of general circulation “for the City of Covina, and for the County of Los Angeles, and for the State of California, ’ ’ as defined in section 6000 of the Government Code.1 On August 21, 1958, the respondent, A. J. Jenner, filed notice of a motion to have such adjudication vacated pursuant to the provisions of section 6024 of the Government Code.2 In the affidavit filed in support of the motion, respondent set forth that he is the publisher of the Covina Sentinel, a newspaper of general circulation, printed and published in the city of Covina, that since the time that The Covina Argus-Citizen was adjudicated to be a newspaper of general circulation, printed and published in the city of Covina, and for more than two years last past, The Covina Argus-Citizen has not been printed and published in the city of Covina but is printed and published in the city of West Covina, and that said newspaper has ceased to be a newspaper of general circulation, printed and published in the city of Covina. The affidavit of A. Q. Miller, Jr., was filed in opposition. In that affidavit he stated in part that The Covina Argus-Citizen has an office located in the city of Covina, “where news is collected and assembled, advertisements are solicited and accepted, and where the layout work of the newspaper is done and where substantial business affairs of said paper are conducted, ’ ’ that the newspaper has a building in West Covina, about one block from the city limits of Covina, at which building the mechanical work of printing the newspaper is done, and that the newspaper “has a substantial list of bona fide paying subscribers, ’' most of whom are in the city of Covina, and it has an audited circulation of 5,161, of which approximately 90 per cent is within [318]*318the city of Covina, and that the newspaper is under contract to the city of Covina to do its municipal official printing.

The motion was heard on September 29, 1958, at which time certain exhibits were received in evidence by stipulation and the parties stipulated as to the circulation of the respective papers of appellant and respondent. There was a dispute in the evidence as to just how far outside the city limits of Covina the printing plant of The Covina Argus-Citizen is located but such distance does not, in any event, exceed one mile. The matter was submitted on such evidence and the affidavits. The court made the following findings of fact: 1. That since the time of the original adjudication The Covina Argus-Citizen has moved its printing facilities to 2037 West San Bernardino Road. 2. That said address is not in the city of Covina but is in the county of Los Angeles. 3. That the said newspaper is not printed and published within the city of Covina. The conclusion of law reached by the court was that the newspaper is no longer entitled to adjudication as a newspaper of general circulation, printed and published within the city of Covina, but is entitled to retain its adjudication as a newspaper of general circulation, printed and published within the county of Los Angeles and the State of California. The original decree was accordingly modified.

The first question to be determined is whether, assuming the facts to be as found, the trial court was required to make the modification of the original adjudication. Basing its argument upon the language of section 6024 of the Government Code that the “decision and judgment may be vacated, modified or set aside by the court,” appellant contends that the trial court had a discretion in the matter which it failed to exercise. It is true that section 14 of the Government Code provides that “may” is permissive. But such provision is subject to section 5 of the same code which states: “Unless the provision or the context otherwise requires, these general provisions, rules of construction, and definitions shall govern the construction of this code. ” “It is a fundamental rule of statutory construction that a provision under consideration by the courts should, wherever possible, be given such construction as will reasonably achieve its object and purpose within the context of the legislative scheme.” (Hochfelder v. County of Los Angeles, 126 Cal.App.2d 370, 373 [272 P.2d 844].) With respect to the use of the word “may” in another section of the Government Code, the court said in Hollman v. Warren, 32 Cal.2d 351, at page 356 [196 P.2d 562]: “Section [319]*3198200 of the Government Code provides that the governor ‘may’ appoint notaries in such number as he deems necessary. Ordinarily, ‘may’ is permissive (Gov. Code, § 14), but if the provision or context otherwise requires it that meaning is not required (Gov. Code, §5). It is clear that a mandatory duty to appoint notaries public is imposed.” (See also Hochfelder v. County of Los Angeles, supra, 126 Cal.App.2d 370, 375 [272 P.2d 844]; Jefferson Union School Dist. v. City Council, 129 Cal.App.2d 264, 267 [277 P.2d 104].) In this case it is clear that the Legislature did not intend that, after the standards had been met by a newspaper with respect to its qualification as a newspaper of general circulation for a particular area, the superior court would have discretion to determine whether a subsequent substantial deviation from such standards should be disregarded.

The determination of this matter is governed by the provisions of section 6004.5 of the Government Code: ‘‘In order to qualify as a newspaper of general circulation the newspaper, if either printed or published in a town or city, shall be both printed and published in one and the same town or city.” The meaning of that section received careful consideration in In re Lynwood Herald American, 152 Cal.App. 2d 901 [313 P.2d 584]. That case and In re Application of Monrovia Evening Post, 199 Cal. 263 [248 P. 1017], sustain the determination of the trial court in the present matter. As concisely stated in the Lynwood case, supra, at page 907: ‘‘In the Monrovia case, the Supreme Court held that within the meaning of section 4463 of the Political Code (now Gov. Code, § 6004) a newspaper is ‘published’ at the town, city or place where it is printed and issued. It is declared also in Christensen [In re Christensen, 104 Cal.App.2d 375 (231 P.2d 152)] that a newspaper could not qualify for publications of the city in which it had its office and main circulation unless it was also printed in that city. Nevertheless, it could and did qualify as a newspaper of general circulation for the county in which it was both printed and published.

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Related

Hochfelder v. County of Los Angeles
272 P.2d 844 (California Court of Appeal, 1954)
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231 P.2d 152 (California Court of Appeal, 1951)
Hollman v. Warren
196 P.2d 562 (California Supreme Court, 1948)
Jefferson Union School District v. City Council
277 P.2d 104 (California Court of Appeal, 1954)
In Re Lynwood Herald American
152 Cal. App. 2d 901 (California Court of Appeal, 1957)
In Re the Napa Journal
22 P.2d 772 (California Court of Appeal, 1933)
Application of Monrovia Evening Post
248 P. 1017 (California Supreme Court, 1926)
Herald Publishing Co. v. California Newspaper Publishers Ass'n
313 P.2d 584 (California Court of Appeal, 1957)
Paul Bunyan News v. Shanks
345 P.2d 527 (California Court of Appeal, 1959)

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Bluebook (online)
177 Cal. App. 2d 315, 2 Cal. Rptr. 184, 1960 Cal. App. LEXIS 2472, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/san-gabriel-valley-newspapers-inc-v-jenner-calctapp-1960.