Mason v. Johnson

Decided July 1, 1877

California Supreme Court · decided 1877-07-01

. The defendant, on the fourth day of March, 1872, was elected marshal of the city of Oakland, for two years, and, as marshal, was ex officio tax collector. Brooklyn, an incorporated town, joined Oakland on the south. On the first day of May, 1872, W. H. Hamilton was elected assessor of Brooklyn, and assessed the property of the town before the first Monday in August. The Board of Trustees of Brooklyn, on the seventh day of October, levied a tax for town purposes.

Relies on People v. Hastings

Good law ✅— No negative treatment on recordhow we know

Decided 1877-07-01

How this case has been cited

Cited by 4 later decisions — most recently February 1919

4 state decisions

Later decisions citing this case, by decade. The current decade is in progress, and our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so the latest bars are undercounted — not a real decline.

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By the Court:

¶11. The protest served upon the defendant wras sufficient, for the defendant was bound to take notice of the matter, which rendered the tax illegal.

¶22. There was no authority in the tax collector of the city of Oakland to collect the taxes levied in the town of Brooklyn. He had not been elected tax collector by the qualified electors of Brooklyn, as required by the constitution. (Art. II, sec. 13.) The case of the People v. Hastings (29 Cal. 449) upon this point is decisive of this case.

¶3Judgment reversed, and cause remanded with directions to render judgment for the plaintiff upon the agreed statement of facts.

¶4Mr. Justice McKinstry expressed no opinion.