Reece

This is an original petition for a writ of review filed under Business and Professions Code sections 23090 and 23090.5. The Acting Director of the Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control (hereinafter “ABC”) seeks reversal of a decision of the ABC Appeals Board which held a departmental rule (Cal. Admin. Code, tit. 4, § 58), unconstitutional under California and United States equal protection standards. The rule in question states that the spouse of a person who is disqualified under section 62 from holding a liquor license is similarly so disqualified.

Virginia Scheffel is the wife of Arch Scheffel, a 21-year veteran of, and active as the Commander of the Detective Division in the San Joaquin County Sheriff’s Department. In November 1974, she leased a groceiy store and cafe in a rural area of San Joaquin County. The lessors had operated a similar business on the premises for many years prior to leasing it to Virginia, and had been holders of an off-sale beer and wine license. Virginia submitted an application for such a license to the ABC, accompanied by a written and signed post-nuptial agreement stating that the business was entirely her separate property over which…