Miller v. Board of Supervisors

California Constitution, article XX, section 3, requires that “all public officers and employees, executive, legislative, and judicial, except such inferior officers and employees as may be by law exempted, shall, before they enter upon the duties of their respective offices,” (italics added) take a specific oath of allegiance commonly known as a “loyalty oath.”

Plaintiff Miller was an “Account Clerk I” at the Trinity County Hospital, and an employee of Trinity County. She is a resident alien (a citizen of Canada). Shortly after her employment she was asked to sign the oath and refused. She was thereupon discharged, and the defendant Board of Supervisors of Trinity County refused to reinstate her. The trial court granted her petition and mandated reinstatement with back pay. Defendant has appealed.

*186 The following enumeration and quotation of sections of the Government Code quickly demonstrate the correctness of the trial judge’s conclusion that in response to its constitutional authority the Legislature has exempted Miller from the oath requirement.

Section 3100. “It is hereby declared that the protection of the health and safety and preservation of the lives and…