XAVIER BECERRA Attorney General
MANUEL M. MEDEIROS Deputy Attorney General
AGO 18-601
No. 18-601
California Attorney General Opinion
Office of the Attorney General State of California
August 28, 2018
Proposed
relator THOMAS J. FOX has requested leave to sue proposed
defendant JUDY MORRIS in quo warranto to oust Morris from the
public office of Trinity County Supervisor, on the ground
that, in her election documents, she used her married name,
"Morris," rather than her birth name,
"Yzquierdo," in alleged violation of Elections Code
section 18200.
CONCLUSION
Proposed
relator does not raise a substantial question of law or fact
that warrants initiating a judicial proceeding, and allowing
the proposed quo warranto action to proceed would not serve
the public interest. Proposed relator's application for
leave to sue in quo warranto is, therefore, DENIED.
ANALYSIS
Proposed
relator Thomas J. Fox (Fox) was one of two candidates on the
ballot for Trinity County Supervisor, Electoral District 2,
in an election held on July 7, 2016. The other candidate, who
won the election, was proposed defendant Judy Morris
(Morris).
1Morris was sworn into office on January 2,
2017. Fox alleges that Morris "has usurped the office of
Trinity County Supervisor . . . in that she appeared on the
ballot under a name which is not legally her
name,"
2 in asserted violation of Elections Code
section 18200 (hereafter, Section 18200).
[3] Fox alleges that
Morris's legal name is "Judy Yzquierdo," the
name under which she is compensated by Trinity County, not
"Morris," which is her married name. Fox seeks
leave to file a complaint in quo warranto ousting Morris from
office and installing him instead.
The
gravamen of Fox's complaint is that, once she was
divorced, Morris was not legally permitted to continue to use
her married name unless she stopped using her birth name
"Yzquierdo" for all purposes, or alternatively,
obtained a court order changing her name from
"Yzquierdo" to "Morris." Fox argues that,
since Morris continues to use "Yzquierdo" for some
purposes and has not obtained a court order changing her
name, her use of her married name "Morris" for
purposes of the 2016 election amounts to use of a
"fictitious name" within the meaning of Section
18200. As discussed in further detail below, we disagree and
therefore deny Fox's application.
"Quo
warranto," literally meaning "by what
authority," was a writ at common law, by which the crown
instituted a formal inquiry into whether a subject had the
right to hold public office.
4 The remedy is currently codified
in section 803 of the Code of Civil Procedure, which provides
in relevant part:
An action may be brought by the attorney-general, in the name
of the people of this state, upon his own information, or
upon a complaint of a private party, against any person who
usurps, intrudes into, or unlawfully holds or exercises any
public office . . . .5
A
private party seeking to bring such an action must obtain the
consent of the Attorney General.
6 In deciding whether to grant
leave to sue, we do not resolve the merits of the...
