Cummings v. California State Teachers' Retirement Board

Plaintiff has appealed from an adverse judgment in an action for declaratory relief in which she sought a determination that certain 1957 amendments to the Education Code were unconstitutional as applied to her because they reduced her pension as it should be computed under the law in effect on July 1,1956. As a collateral issue she seeks, if successful on the principal issue, recovery of costs, expenses and attorney’s fees on account of those who would be jointly benefited by the establishment of her contentions.

The provisions of law involved are those now found in the sections of chapter 4, of division 10, of part 2 of the Education Code, as recodified and renumbered effective September 18, 1959, by Statutes of 1959, chapter 2, page 983, section 13801 et seq. More particularly the question is whether plaintiff’s pension as computed pursuant to amendments to that code, as the sections were numbered and existed prior to July 1, 1956, which became effective on that date (Stats. 1955, ch. 1395, p. 2491), would be greater than as computed at the time of her retirement under the law which stems from amendments to former sections of the code which became effective September 11,1957…