Griset v. Fair Political Practices Commission

• Decision Date: 24 May 2001
• Docket Number: No. S077219.,S077219.
• Citation: 23 P.3d 43,107 Cal.Rptr.2d 149,25 Cal.4th 688
• Court: California Supreme Court
• Parties: Daniel GRISET et al., Plaintiffs and Appellants, v. FAIR POLITICAL PRACTICES COMMISSION, Defendant and Respondent.

107 Cal.Rptr.2d 149

25 Cal.4th 688

23 P.3d 43

Daniel GRISET et al., Plaintiffs and Appellants, v. FAIR POLITICAL PRACTICES COMMISSION, Defendant and Respondent.

No. S077219.

Supreme Court of California.

May 24, 2001.

Bopp, Coleson & Bostrom, James Bopp, Jr.; Reed & Davidson, Darryl R. Wold, Dana W. Reed, Bradley W. Hertz and Rondi J. Walsh, Los Angeles, for Plaintiffs and Appellants.

Bell, McAndrews & Hiltachk, Charles H. Bell, Jr., Santa Monica; Law Offices of Lowell Finley and Lowell Finley, Berkeley, for California Political Attorneys Association as Amicus Curiae on behalf of Plaintiffs and Appellants.

Bill Lockyer, Attorney General, Susan R. Oie, Deputy Attorney General; Steven G. Churchwell, Liane Randolph and Deborah Maddux Allison, for Defendant and Respondent.

James K. Hahn, City Attorney (Los Angeles), Pedro Echeverria, Chief Assistant City Attorney, Mark L. Brown and Anthony Saul Alperin, Assistant City Attorneys; Jayne W. Williams, City Attorney (Oakland); Louise Renne, City Attorney (San Francisco); and Joan R. Gallo, City Attorney (San Jose) for Cities of Los Angeles, Oakland, San Francisco and San Jose as Amici Curiae on behalf of Defendant and Respondent.

Richard L. Hasen, Los Angeles, for California Professors, the Brennan Center for Justice at NYU School of Law, CALPIRG and the Center for Governmental Studies as Amici Curiae on behalf of Defendant and Respondent.

Daniel C. Manatt for Common Cause of California, League of Women Voters of California, Californians for Political Reform Foundation and Voters Rights 2000 as Amici Curiae on behalf of Defendant and Respondent.

KENNARD, J.

Government Code section 84305¹ requires candidates for public office, and individuals or groups supporting or opposing a candidate or ballot measure, to identify themselves on any mass mailings they send to prospective voters. In Griset v. Fair Political Practices Com. (1994) 8 Cal.4th 851, 855, 35 Cal.Rptr.2d 659, 884 P.2d 116 (Griset I), this court unanimously upheld the statute's validity as to candidates and candidate-controlled committees. Because that holding resolved the case before us, we, unlike the Court of Appeal, did not address the broader question of the constitutional validity of section 84305 with respect to persons and entities other than candidates and candidate-controlled committees.

After our decision in Griset I became final and after the United States Supreme Court denied plaintiffs' petition for a writ of certiorari, plaintiffs, in the same action, again asked the superior court to declare section 84305 unconstitutional. Plaintiffs relied on a decision by the United States Supreme Court, McIntyre v. Ohio Elections Comm'n (1995) 514 U.S. 334, 115 S.Ct. 1511, 131 L.Ed.2d 426, which held unconstitutional the imposition of a fine on an individual who had distributed anonymous leaflets opposing a proposed school tax levy. That decision was filed after Griset I, but before the high court's denial of plaintiffs' petition for a writ of certiorari in Griset I.

The superior court denied plaintiffs' request and entered judgment for defendant Fair Political Practices Commission. On plaintiffs' appeal from that judgment, the Court of Appeal reversed.

The threshold issue in the matter now before us (Griset II, which arises from the same action as Griset I) is whether the Court of Appeal had the authority to entertain plaintiffs' second appeal in the same action, to again consider the constitutionality of section 84305 after our decision in Griset I had become final. We conclude the Court of Appeal lacked such authority.

I. FACTS AND PROCEEDINGS

A. Administrative Proceedings

In 1988, Daniel Griset was a candidate for reelection to the Santa Ana City Council. A month before the election, the Griset Campaign Committee, which . Griset controlled, sent prospective voters a mass mailing using the letterhead Washington Square Neighborhood Association. The mailing did not identify Griset or the Griset Campaign Committee as the sender. That same month, the Santa Ana Progress Committee, also controlled by Griset, sent prospective voters four mass mailings attacking Griset's opponent. The mailings identified the Santa Ana Progress Committee as the sender but failed to say that candidate Griset controlled the committee. (Griset I, supra, 8 Cal.4th at p. 854, 35 Cal.Rptr.2d 659, 884 P.2d 116.) As we noted at the outset, section 84305 requires candidates for public office, and individuals or groups supporting or opposing a candidate or ballot measure, to identify themselves on any mass mailings they send to prospective voters.

In March 1990, the Fair Political Practices Commission (FPPC) initiated administrative enforcement proceedings against Griset and the two committees he controlled, alleging that the above described mass mailings violated section 84305. (Griset I, supra, 8 Cal.4th at p. 854, 35 Cal.Rptr.2d 659, 884 P.2d 116.) In February 1991, the FPPC fined plaintiffs a total of $10,000 for violating section 84305.

B. Judicial Proceedings Before High Court's Denial of Certiorari in Griset I

In October 1990, while the administrative proceedings before the FPPC were pending, plaintiffs (Griset and the two committees he controlled) brought this action in the Orange County Superior Court against the FPPC challenging the constitutionality of section 84305 and seeking to enjoin its enforcement. The court denied plaintiffs' motion for a preliminary injunction, and the FPPC's administrative enforcement action against plaintiffs proceeded.

After the FPPC imposed a $10,000 fine against plaintiffs in the administrative proceeding, plaintiffs amended and supplemented their superior court complaint to allege four causes of action. The first cause of action was for a writ of administrative mandate (Code Civ. Proc., § 1094.5) directing the FPPC to rescind its administrative decision. The second cause of action asked the court to declare Government Code section 84305 unconstitutional both on its face and as applied to plaintiffs. The third cause of action sought to enjoin the FPPC from collecting any fine from plaintiffs. The fourth cause of action sought to enjoin the FPPC from enforcing section 84305 in the future against plaintiffs or others. Central to all four causes of action was plaintiffs' allegation that section 84305 violated the right to free speech under the First Amendment to the United States Constitution and article I, section 2 of the California Constitution.

In July 1991, plaintiffs filed motions in the superior court for a peremptory writ of mandate on their first cause of action, for summary adjudication that there was no defense to their remaining causes of action, and for summary judgment.

The superior court found section 84305 unconstitutional in prohibiting anonymous mass mailings by individuals or committees other than candidate and candidate-controlled committees during an election campaign, but constitutional in prohibiting anonymous mass mailings by candidates and candidate-controlled committees, as in plaintiffs' case. Accordingly, the court denied plaintiffs' motions. The court's order denying plaintiffs' petition for a writ of administrative mandate stated the order was "a final determination of [plaintiffs'] First Cause of Action for administrative mandamus under Code of Civil Procedure § 1094.5," adding "no further proceedings are to be held on that cause of action." The order denying the motions for summary adjudication and for summary judgment expressly stated that the court's denial was not based on the existence of "any triable issue as to any material fact." The trial court's rulings were not formally entered as a judgment.

Plaintiffs unsuccessfully petitioned the Court of Appeal for a writ of mandate. They then appealed from the superior court's order denying their petition for a writ of administrative mandate. A majority of the Court of Appeal affirmed the trial court's ruling. The court held that section 84305 was constitutional as to candidates and candidate-controlled committees such as plaintiffs. The court also concluded the statute was unconstitutional with regard to persons and entities other than candidates and committees under their control. We granted plaintiffs' petition for review.

We unanimously affirmed the judgment of the Court of Appeal. (Griset I, supra, 8 Cal.4th 851, 35 Cal.Rptr.2d 659, 884 P.2d 116.) We agreed with both the trial court and the Court of Appeal that section 84305 was constitutional as to plaintiffs (candidate Griset and two committees he controlled). We expressed no view, however, on the validity of section 84305 with regard to persons and entities other than candidates and their controlled committees. (Griset I, supra, at p. 855, 35 Cal.Rptr.2d 659, 884 P.2d 116.)

We filed our decision in Griset I on November 28, 1994, and issued the remittitur on December 29, 1994. In February 1995, plaintiffs petitioned the United States Supreme Court for review by writ of certiorari. On April 19, 1995, while plaintiffs' petition was pending, the high court issued its decision in McIntyre v. Ohio Elections Comm'n, supra, 514 U.S. 334, 115 S.Ct. 1511, 131 L.Ed.2d 426 (McIntyre), holding unconstitutional the imposition of a fine on an individual who had distributed anonymous leaflets opposing a proposed school tax levy. Five days later, on April 24, 1995, the high court denied plaintiffs' certiorari petition. (Griset v. Fair Political Practices Commission (1995) 514 U.S. 1083, 115 S.Ct. 1794, 131 L.Ed.2d 722.)

C. Proceedings After High Court's Denial of Certiorari in Griset I

In August 1995, plaintiffs "renewed" in the superior court their 1991 motions for summary adjudication and for summary judgment as to the second, third, and fourth causes of action for declaratory and injunctive relief, arguing that under the high court's decision in McIntyre, supra, 514 U.S. 334,115 S.Ct. 1511,131 L.Ed.2d 426, section 84305 was unconstitutional. The...