California Securities Co. v. State

These actions were brought by plaintiffs, respondents herein, to recover certain corporation license taxes paid by them under protest to Prank C. Jordan as Secretary of State, who was sued both individually and in his official capacity. The taxes were levied, assessed and collected under the provisions of the California Corporation License Tax Act (Stats. 1917, p. 371), which act had, prior to the institution of these actions, been declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court. Both complaints herein were filed on December 31, 1927. Prior to this time, and in December, 1917, the District Court of Appeal for the First Appellate District, in the ease of McClellan v. State of California, 35 Cal. App. 605 [ 170 Pac. 662 ], held that an action brought directly against the state for the recovery of moneys paid under the provisions of said act would not lie because the state could not be sued without its consent. This decision declared that the act of February 28, 1893 (Stats. 1893, p. 57), did not authorize such a suit. Subsequently, however, and on February 26, 1929, the Supreme Court, in the case of Welsbach Co. v. State of California, Frank C. Jordan as Secretary of State and…