Becerra’s eligibility to be AG challenged in lawsuit

State Attorney General Xavier Becerra is constitutionally ineligible to currently hold and run for the office, according to a lawsuit filed by one of his opponents.

Eric Early, a Republican Party candidate for attorney general, is seeking to remove Becerra's name from the November ballot because he has not been an active, practicing California attorney for five years.

"Accordingly, between 1991 and the November 2018 general election, Becerra will have only been a practicing attorney for one year, ten months and five days, which is barely more experience than a newly minted attorney fresh out of law school," wrote plaintiff's attorney Steve Cooley of Steve Cooley & Associates.

Cooley argued Becerra does not meet the minimum requirements to run for attorney general because the California Constitution states a candidate is required to be entitled to practice law before the state Supreme Court for at least five years immediately preceding election or appointment to office.

The lawsuit contends Becerra is not a qualified candidate because of state Government Code 12503, which details eligibility requirements for the office of Attorney General, and seeks a writ from Secretary of State Alex Padilla to remove Becerra's name from the November 2018 general election ballot. Early v. Becerra et. al., 800002902 (Sacramento Super. Ct., filed May 29, 2018).

Early and Becerra did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Attorney general candidate Chuck Poochigian filed a similar suit against now-Gov. Jerry Brown in 2007, questioning his eligibility to become the state's top law enforcement officer because he did not pay State Bar membership fees and was declared inactive.

The suit challenged Brown's eligibility for attorney general because he was not an uninterrupted, active member of the state bar for at least five years prior to his candidacy.

Sacramento County Superior Court Judge Gail Ohanesian later dismissed the suit, ruling that one only has to be admitted to practice law in California, regardless of active or inactive status.

Becerra was admitted to the State Bar in 1985 and placed on "inactive" status in 1991. The status was then changed to "active" in 2017, once he was appointed to fill the remainder of former Attorney General Kamala Harris' term.