In Re the Napa Journal

California Court of Appeal May 31, 1933 No. Docket No. 4875.Published

Before: Tuttle

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Holding. The court held that a newspaper must maintain compliance with statutory printing requirements to retain its status as a newspaper of general circulation, and that a prior judgment establishing such status does not grant a permanent exemption from these requirements.

Issues

Whether a prior judgment establishing a newspaper's status as one of general circulation exempts it from ongoing compliance with statutory printing requirements.
Whether the statutory requirement that a newspaper be printed where it is published is a constitutional exercise of police power.

Disposition. affirmed

Quotations verified verbatim against the opinion

“In our opinion it establishes such standing as of the date it was rendered, and does not relate back to every year since 1884.”

“Consequently, it is the duty of every newspaper, if it would retain its status as one of general circulation, to meet the requirement as to “printing” according to the present law.”

TUTTLE, J.,

pro tem.

Appellant, “Napa Journal,” appeals from an order modifying a judgment establishing its status as a newspaper of general circulation, and adjudging that it has ceased to be such a newspaper. Such procedure is expressly authorized by section 4462 of the Political Code.

On June 30, 1930, a judgment was duly made and entered in the Superior Court of Napa County, whereby it was decreed that appellant was a newspaper of general circulation and “that it is now and has been continuously since the year 1884 established, printed and published at regular intervals at the City of Napa”.

On December 9, 1930, respondents George N. Francis and George H. Francis filed a petition to modify, vacate and set aside said judgment, upon the ground that the appellant had ceased to be a newspaper of general circulation, in that it “has for more than two months last past been printed and published in the City of Vallejo, County of Solano”. The relief sought was granted by the trial cdurt, which vacated the judgment and decreed that appellant has ceased to be a newspaper of general circulation.

From the agreed statement of facts it appears “that since the first day of October, 1930, a monthly average of less

[341]

than fifty per cent of the typesetting required for printing said newspaper has been done in the City of Napa, Napa Township and County of Napa, and more than fifty per cent thereof has been done at the northeasterly corner of Maryland and Napa Streets in the City of Vallejo, County of Solano and State of California. That since said 1st. day of October, 1930, the type so set in the City of Napa has been sent to said address at the northeasterly corner of Maryland and Napa Streets in the City of Vallejo and at that point the forms for the printing of said newspaper have been made up and all the work of impressing the type on the paper has been done. That after said work has been completed the newspapers so produced have been sent to the place of business of said newspaper in the City of Napa and distributed from that point to the subscribers. That the portion of the said work done in the City of Vallejo as aforesaid, has been done at that point because it was more convenient and economical to the owners of the newspaper ’ ’.

In Re the Napa Journal

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TUTTLE, J.,

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