Van De Kamp, 041084 CAAGO, AGO 83-1203

• Case Date: April 10, 1984
• Court: California

JOHN K. VAN DE KAMP Attorney General CLAYTON P. ROCHE Deputy Attorney General AGO 83-1203 No. 83-1203 California Attorney General Opinion Office of the Attorney General State of California April 10, 1984          THE HONORABLE H. L. RICHARDSON, MEMBER OF THE CALIFORNIA SENATE, has requested an opinion on the following question:          Does article VI, section 17, of the California Constitution prohibit a supreme court justice who resigns from that office before the expiration of his or her term from accepting a public teaching position before the expiration of such term?          CONCLUSION          Article VI, section 17, of the California Constitution does prohibit a supreme court justice who resigns from that office before the expiration of his or her term from accepting a public teaching position before the expiration of such term.          ANALYSIS          Article VI, section 17, of the California Constitution provides:

"A judge of a court of record may not practice law and during the term for which the judge was selected is ineligible for public employment or public office other than judicial employment or judicial office. A judge of the superior or municipal court may, however, become eligible for election to other public office by taking a leave of absence without pay prior to filing a declaration of candidacy. Acceptance of the public office is a resignation from the office of judge. "A judicial officer may not receive fines or fees for personal use."

         The question presented is whether this constitutional provision prohibits a supreme court justice who resigns before the expiration of the term for which he or she "was selected" from accepting a public teaching position before the expiration of such term.^[1]          In 66 Ops.Cal.Atty.Gen. 440 (1983) this office was presented with the same question, except that opinion involved a superior court judge instead of a supreme court justice. We concluded that the basic prohibition contained in the first sentence of article VI, section 17, is clear and unambiguous and should be applied according to its...