Hunt v. Superior Court
Hunt v. Superior Court
Opinion of the Court
Lulberda Hunt petitioned this court for a writ of prohibition directed to the Honorable William
The pertinent part of the code section referred to reads as follows:
“In an action or proceeding brought in any court by or against the Reclamation Board of the State of California, or any irrigation, reclamation, levee, swampland or drainage district, or any public agency . . . affecting or relating to any real property ... a judge of the superior court of the county . . . in which such real property ... is situated shall be disqualified to sit or act, . . . .”
We think that the long-standing judicial construction of the legislation relied upon by petitioner made heretofore by the appellate courts of the state, combined with the inferable acquiescence of the Legislature in that construction, precludes the application of the legislation to the cause over which Judge Biddiek is presiding.
It is unnecessary to discuss in detail the eases construing section 170, subdivision 6, of the Code of Civil Procedure, upon the point here involved. They are: Sacramento etc. Drainage District v. Rector, 172 Cal. 385 [156 P. 506]; Lindsay-Strathmore Irr. Dist. v. Superior Court, 182 Cal. 315 [187 P. 1056]; City of San Diego v. Andrews, 195 Cal. 111 [231 P. 726]; Hall v. Superior Court, 198 Cal. 373 [245 P. 814]; Tocque v. Superior Court, 64 Cal.App. 494 [222 P. 181]; Metropolitan Water District v. Superior Court, 2 Cal.2d 4 [37 P.2d 1041], and Metropolitan Water District v. County of Riverside, 21 Cal.2d 640 [134 P.2d 249], By these cases it has become established that the generalization “any public, agency” is limited to agencies of the same kind and character as those specifically mentioned, that is, to public agencies like unto reclamation, irrigation, levee, swampland
The order to show cause heretofore issued is discharged. The petition for a writ of prohibition is denied.
Schottky, J., and Peek, J., concurred.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.