California Court of Appeal

In case involving state legislature's effort to transfer certain powers from the city school board to the school district superintendent and the mayor under the Romero Act, trial court-s issuance of a writ of mandate preventing the enforcement of the Act is affirmed as the Act is an unconstitutional attempt to both overrule the voters- determination that their board is to be elected rather than appointed, and to transfer authority over part of the school system to entities outside of the public school system.

Appellate Information

• Decided 04/17/2007
• Published 04/17/2007

Judges

• CROSKEY, J.

Court

• California Court of Appeal

Counsel

• For Appellant:
  
• Munger, Tolles & Olson, Vilma S. Martinez, Bradley S. Phillips, Daniel P. Collins and Paul J. Watford, Los Angeles, for Intervenors and Appellants.


• For Appellees:
  
• Edmund G. Brown, Jr., Attorney General, Stacy Boulware Eurie and Paul H. Dobson, Assistant Attorneys General, Christopher E. Krueger, Gregory M. Cribbs and Susan K. Leach, Deputy Attorneys General for Defendants and Appellants Arnold Schwarzenegger, as Governor of the State of California, John Chiang, as Controller, and State Board of Education., Rockard J. Delgadillo, City Attorney, Valerie L. Flores, Heather E. Davis and Harit U. Trivedi for Defendant and Appellant Antonio Villaraigosa, as Mayor of the City of Los Angeles., Los Angeles Unified School District, Kevin S. Reed, Los Angeles, Donald L. Davis and Georgina C. Verdugo for Plaintiff and Respondent Los Angeles Unified School District., Olson, Hagel & Fishburn, Deborah B. Caplan, N. Eugene Hill, Lance H. Olson, Sacramento, Erin V. Peth;  Strumwasser & Woocher, Fredrich D. Woocher, Michael Strumwasser, Santa Monica;  Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy, Gregory Evans, Alisa Schlesinger, Patricia J. Quilizapa and Paul M. Torres, Los Angeles, for Plaintiffs and Respondents (Other than AALA and Diane Watson)., Parker & Covert and Henry R. Kraft, Tustin, for Plaintiff and Respondent AALA., Diane E. Watson, in pro. per., for Plaintiff and Respondent.