Howard

The District Attorney for the County of Los Angeles seeks to vacate a preliminary injunction of the superior court against all enforcement of Penal Code section 159a, a statute which proscribes as a misdemeanor advertisement of offers to procure or obtain, or to aid in procuring or obtaining, any dissolution or annulment of marriage.

The cause arose from the complaint of real party in interest, California Divorce League (League) for declaratory relief, for violation of civil rights, and for misuse ofpublic funds. According to the complaint, the League is an association of “do-it-yourself divorce businesses” that provide services for persons who desire to represent themselves in marital dissolution proceedings. League members advertise the availability of their services in newspapers and on radio. The complaint asserts that at the insistence of various bar associations, whose members fear loss of income, petitioner “has undertaken the mass prosecution of divorce clinics with the intent and the purpose of putting them out of business”; he has initiated 28 prosecutions against League members (but not against the League itself) charging violations of section 159a, he has…