Taxpayers Have Standing to Litigate Consitutional Claims

Cal. DUI Lawyers Assoc. v. Dep’t of Motor Vehicles, No. B278092 (D2d4 Mar. 2, 2018)

The California DUI Lawyers Association brought a taxpayer action under Code of Civil Procedure § 526a, alleging that the DMV’s administrative license suspension procedures for DUI arrestees violate procedural due process. In particular, the CDLA argued that the hearing officers who adjudicate license suspension claims are not independent of the DMV and tasked with a hybrid investigative/adjudicatory function that makes them insufficiently neutral to satisfy due process. The DMV argued, and the trial court agreed, that CDLA didn’t have taxpayer standing because the DMV procedure was “legal,” i.e., consistent with the Vehicular Code. But that’s not right. A taxpayer can sue under § 526a to enjoin public agency acts that constitute “waste.” And “waste” includes not only acts that contravene statutory authority, but also acts that are unconstitutional. Since the CDLA made a colorable constitutional challenge, they had standing to bring their claims under § 526a. 

Reversed and remanded.