Leon S. Kaplan v. County of Los Angeles

Judge Leon S. Kaplan of the Los Ange-les Superior Court appeals the district court’s adverse judgment in his suit challenging the fees charged to candidates for political office by Los Angeles County for costs associated with the publication of election statements in the County’s voter’s pamphlet. Kaplan contends that the cost recovery system violates his First and Fourteenth Amendment rights. Because we find no constitutional infirmity in the cost recovery system, we affirm the district court’s judgment.

I.

The California Elections Code allows candidates for nonpartisan city or county offices to prepare a statement for publication in a voter’s pamphlet put out by the local government agency. Cal.Elec.Code § 10012 (West Supp.1989). The pamphlet is mailed with a sample ballot to all registered voters prior to the election. The statements of judicial candidates must be “limited to a recitation of the candidate’s own personal background and qualifications and shall not in any way make reference to other candidates for judicial office or to another candidate’s qualifications, character, or activities.” Id. § 10012.1. The Code provides for a procedure by which the public and the…