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 Judicial Decision Later-Enacted Statutes

Plaintiffs invoke the rule that when a term has been given a particular meaning by a judicial decision, it should be presumed to have the same meaning in later-enacted statutes or constitutional provisions.  (See People v. Hurtado (2002) 28 Cal.4th 1179, 1188-1189; Arnett v. Dal Cielo (1996) 14 Cal.4th 4, 19.)  Plaintiffs argue that San Marcos, supra, 42 Cal.3d 154, gave the term “assessment” a precise legal meaning as applying to capacity charges used to fund capital improvements, and therefore the term “assessment” in article XIII D, enacted after San Marcos, must be construed to have the same meaning.  But the rule that plaintiffs invoke does not apply when, as here, the statute or constitutional provision contains its own definition of the term at issue:  “If the Legislature has provided an express definition of a term, that definition ordinarily is binding on the courts.”  (Curle v. Superior Court (2001) 24 Cal.4th 1057, 1063.)  Here, article XIII D provides both an express definition of assessment and an implied qualification of that definition through the requirement that the agency identify the specific parcels on which the assessment will be imposed.
JERRY RICHMOND et al.,    v.  SHASTA COMMUNITY SERVICES DISTRICT,  S105078-Filed 2/9/04  
 

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