GEORGE, C.J.

We granted review in this matter and in the companion case, Degrassi v. Cook (Nov. 27, 2002, S094248) ___ Cal.4th ___ ( Degrassi), to consider whether an individual may bring an action for money damages on the basis of an alleged violation of a provision of the California Constitution, in the absence of a statutory provision or an established common law tort authorizing such a damage remedy for the constitutional violation. In the present case, plaintiff seeks, among other relief, monetary damages based upon defendant's alleged violation of his due process "liberty" interest under article I, section 7, subdivision (a), of the California Constitution (hereafter article I, section 7(a)), by failing to provide him with a timely "name-clearing" hearing after his removal as department chairman at a university medical center. We conclude that an action for damages is not available.

I.

The investigation concerned approximately $250,000 that allegedly had been placed inappropriately in radiology accounts to be used for payment of department expenses. Most of this money came from rebates provided by medical equipment vendors. There never has been any allegation that plaintiff made any personal use of the challenged funds. Instead, the alleged improprieties related to placement of funds in the department's account rather than in the medical center's general funds.

In March 1996, the university announced that "appropriate personnel actions" had been initiated, but did not name any specific employee. Later that month, plaintiff was removed as chairperson of the department. He remained a tenured professor at the medical school and a staff physician at the medical center.

In February 1997, plaintiff sued various defendants on numerous grounds, and the resulting litigation has moved back and forth between state and federal courts. For present purposes, it is sufficient to note that plaintiff's third amended complaint — the one here at issue — named as defendants the Regents of the University of California (the Regents) and the Chancellor of the University of California at Davis, Larry N. Vanderhoef (hereafter collectively, defendants). The complaint alleged that by making stigmatizing statements about plaintiff in the course of removing him from his position as department chairperson, defendants violated the liberty interest of plaintiff protected under article I, section 7(a).

Although the department chairmanship was an at-will position, terminable without cause at the discretion of the chancellor of the Davis campus (and hence plaintiff concedes that he had no due process property right to that position), it is well-established that "an at-will [public] employee's liberty interests are deprived when his discharge is accompanied by charges `that might seriously damage his standing and associations in his community' or `impose on him a stigma or other disability that foreclose[s] his freedom to take advantage of other employment opportunities.'" ( Holmes v. Hallinan (1998) 68 Cal.App.4th 1523, 1530, quoting Board of Regents v. Roth (1972) 408 U.S. 564, 573 ( Roth).) When such a liberty deprivation occurs, a party has a right to a so-called "name-clearing hearing." ( Codd v. Velger (1977) 429 U.S. 624, 627.)

The third amended complaint alleged that plaintiff had not been provided with such a hearing at which he could defend himself, either prior to, or since, his removal. The complaint also sought a variety of relief, including an injunction, damages, attorney fees, and costs.

The trial court granted defendants' motion to strike the prayer for relief. Later, in October 1999 — three and a half years after plaintiff's removal — defendants offered plaintiff a name-clearing hearing. For the next few months, the parties negotiated unsuccessfully concerning the parameters of such a hearing. In February 2000, defendants revised and renewed the proposal for a name-clearing hearing, but plaintiff rejected that offer, and no such hearing has been held.

Defendants thereafter moved for summary judgment on plaintiff's due-process-liberty-interest claim on the grounds that (i) a liberty interest violation could not be proved, because the "alleged false statements are not stigmatizing as a matter of law," and (ii) even if a liberty interest violation could be proved, the remedy would be limited to a name-clearing hearing, which plaintiff previously had rejected. Plaintiff opposed the motion on the ground, among others, that defendants had not offered him an adequate name-clearing hearing.

In April 2000, following a court hearing, the trial judge granted summary judgment to defendants, finding they had offered plaintiff an adequate name-clearing hearing, and that such a postremoval hearing was the sole remedy for the asserted liberty interest violation under the due process clause of article I, section 7(a). The court found that money damages were not available under California law to remedy "infringement of liberty interests," or to remedy any alleged undue delay in the offer of a name-clearing hearing. The trial court confined its ruling on the summary judgment motion to the damages issue, and did not rule on defendants' claim that plaintiff's allegations were insufficient to demonstrate a liberty-interest violation.

Upon review, the Court of Appeal began by noting that the state constitutional due process liberty interest alleged to have been violated in this case has been recognized under the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment of the federal Constitution in Roth, supra, 408 U.S. 564, 573. In that decision the high court observed that "`[w]here a person's good name, reputation, honor, or integrity is at stake because of what the government is doing to him, notice and an opportunity to be heard are essential.' [Citations.] In such a case, due process would accord an opportunity to refute the charge before University officials." ( Ibid.) The Court of Appeal stated that it would assume for purposes of analysis that a similar liberty interest exists under article I, section 7(a) of the state Constitution, and it further assumed that the facts alleged in this case state a violation of plaintiff's due process liberty interest under this provision of the state Constitution. Focusing solely upon the damages question, the Court of Appeal affirmed the trial court's grant of summary judgment for defendants, holding that money damages are not available to remedy such a violation of the liberty interest under article I, section 7(a).

In this court, plaintiff contends that article I, section 7(a) affords him a right to damages for the asserted violation of his due process liberty interest. By contrast, defendants assert that a name-clearing hearing is the sole remedy that a court should impose for the alleged constitutional violation. For purposes of analyzing the damages issue upon which we granted review, we shall assume, as did the Court of Appeal, that the facts alleged in the third amended complaint are sufficient to establish a violation of the due process liberty interest under the state Constitution's due process clause.

II.

Article I, section 26 of the California Constitution states: "The provisions of this Constitution are mandatory and prohibitory, unless by express words they are declared to be otherwise." Under this provision, "all branches of government are required to comply with constitutional directives ( Mosk v. Superior Court (1979) 25 Cal.3d 474, 493, fn. 17; Bauer-Schweitzer Malting Co. v. City and County of San Francisco (1973) 8 Cal.3d 942, 946) or prohibitions ( Sail'er Inn, Inc. v. Kirby (1971) 5 Cal.3d 1, 8)." ( Leger v. Stockton Unified School Dist. (1988) 202 Cal.App.3d 1448, 1454 ( Leger).) As we observed more than a century ago, "[e]very constitutional provision is self-executing to this extent, that everything done in violation of it is void." ( Oakland Paving Co. v. Hilton (1886) 69 Cal. 479, 484.)

Accordingly, the question posed in this case is not whether article I, section 7(a) is "self-executing." It is clear that the due process clause of article I, section 7(a) is self-executing, and that even without any effectuating legislation, all branches of government are required to comply with its terms. Furthermore, it also is clear that, like many other constitutional provisions, this section supports an action, brought by a private plaintiff against a proper defendant, for declaratory relief or for injunction. (See generally Skelly v. State Personnel Board (1975) 15 Cal.3d 194; Friesen, State Constitutional Law (2d ed. 1996) § 7-5(a), pp. 416-418 (Friesen).) The question presented here is whether, assuming the complaint states a violation of plaintiff's due process liberty interest, plaintiff may maintain an action for monetary damages to remedy the asserted violation of his due process liberty interests under article I, section 7(a), on the facts alleged.

III.

Subsequent to Bivens, the United States Supreme Court has considered numerous cases in which plaintiffs have sought money damages under a constitutional cause of action premised upon the asserted violation of various federal constitutional provisions. After twice following the lead of Bivens, and recognizing the availability of a constitutional tort action for damages on the strength of the considerations set out above ( Davis v. Passman (1979) 442 U.S. 228, 245 ( Davis) [damages allowed to remedy violation by former congressman of equal protection component of Fifth Amendment due process clause]; Carlson v. Green (1980) 446 U.S. 14, 18-23 ( Carlson) [damages allowed to remedy Eighth Amendment violations by prison officials]), the high court for the past two decades repeatedly has refused to recognize a federal constitutional tort action for money damages in cases presenting that issue. ( Chappell v. Wallace (1983) 462 U.S. 296, 305 ( Chappell) [alleged equal protection violations by superior officer in United States military]; Bush v. Lucas (1983) 462 U.S. 367 ( Bush) [alleged First Amendment violation against federal agency employee by superiors]; United States v. Stanley (1987) 483 U.S. 669 ( Stanley) [alleged due process violations by military personnel during the course of active military service]; Schweiker v. Chilicky (1988) 487 U.S. 412 ( Schweiker) [alleged due process violation by government officials, resulting in deprivation of social security benefits]; FDIC v. Meyer (1994) 510 U.S. 471 ( Meyer) [alleged due process violation concerning employment termination by federal agency]; Correctional Services Corp. v. Malesko (2001) ___ U.S. ___, ___ [122 S.Ct. 515, 520] ( Malesko) [alleged Eighth Amendment violation by private operator of federal prison halfway house].)

In each of these more recent cases, the high court found that the first Bivens consideration mentioned above — "special factors" that "counsel hesitation" by a court in recognizing a constitutional tort damages remedy — militated against recognition of that remedy. And in these recent cases, the court also substantially retreated from, and reformulated, the other Bivens considerations mentioned above. The court has found that the absence of a "complete" alternative remedy will not support an action for damages, so long as a "meaningful" alternative remedy in state or federal law is available ( Bush, supra, 462 U.S. at p. 386; Schweiker, supra, 478 U.S. at pp. 422-425), and it has implicitly discarded the proposition, mentioned in Bivens, supra, 403 U.S. 388, 396-397, and emphasized in Davis, supra, 442 U.S. 228, 246-247, and Carlson, supra, 446 U.S. 14, 19-20, that money damages are presumptively available unless Congress prohibits that remedy (e.g., Chappell, supra, 462 U.S. at p. 304; Bush, supra, 462 U.S. at pp. 380-390; Schweiker, supra, 478 U.S. at p. 429; Meyer, supra, 510 U.S. at p. 486).

The experience in other jurisdictions has been similar. Some out-of-state decisions, often relying upon a combination of (i) the jurisdiction's indigenous common law antecedents, (ii) special legislative history, and (iii) the Restatement (Second) of Torts (1979) section 874A, have recognized a constitutional tort cause of action and corresponding right to be awarded money damages for various state constitutional violations. A greater number of cases, however, often tracking the reasoning of the most recent United States Supreme Court decisions or pointing to the absence of any historical basis for implying a damages action, have declined to recognize such a constitutional tort or implied damages remedy in a variety of circumstances.

California decisions have followed a similar trend. Putting aside cases recognizing an inverse condemnation action for damages to remedy a violation of the state just compensation clause (a constitutional provision that clearly contemplates an award of damages determined in a judicial proceeding, see Cal. Const., art. I, § 19), only two decisions, each filed two decades ago, have recognized an action for damages to remedy a violation of the state Constitution. All subsequent decisions addressing the issue have declined to find such an action for damages. We proceed to review, in chronological order, the relevant California cases.

In Gay Law Students Assn. v. Pacific Tel. Tel. Co. (1979) 24 Cal.3d 458 ( Gay Law Students), this court addressed an action by employees who claimed they were discriminated against by their employer, a state-regulated telephone company, on the basis of their sexual orientation. Our opinion observed that plaintiffs sought declaratory and injunctive relief, and "also prayed for monetary damages." ( Id., at p. 464.) Without expressly addressing the question of availability of damages in addition to the requested equitable relief, we held that plaintiffs could maintain a "direct court action" under the California equal protection clause, article I, section 7(a). ( Gay Law Students, supra., at p. 475 fn. 10.) In the process of announcing this holding we added a "cf." signal and citation to Bivens, supra, 403 U.S. 388, at pages 390-397. ( Gay Law Students, supra, 24 Cal.3d 458 at p. 475.)

Plaintiff suggests that our citation in Gay Law Students, supra, 24 Cal.3d 458, to those pages of Bivens implies approval of a damages remedy for the equal protection violation asserted in Gay Law Students. Only the last few of the pages cited from Bivens spoke to the question of damages, however, and given the circumstance that in Gay Law Students, we did not explicitly address the question of damages, it would be an overstatement to interpret that decision, or its citation to Bivens, as directly endorsing such a remedy.

Plaintiff does, however, find support for his position in the Court of Appeal opinion in Laguna Publishing Co. v. Golden Rain Foundation (1982) 131 Cal.App.3d 816 ( Laguna Publishing). In that case the Court of Appeal, in a two-to-one decision, held that the owners of a private gated retirement community violated a newspaper publisher's state free speech and press rights (Cal. Const., art. I, § 2, subd. (a)) by enforcing a rule barring the distribution of unsolicited free newspapers within the community, and the court remanded the case for a new trial at which the plaintiff would have an opportunity to prove damages. ( Laguna Publishing, at pp. 848-857.) In reaching this conclusion and expressly finding that money damages were available, the majority stressed the " special dignity" of "the rights of free speech and free press" ( id., at p. 853, italics in original), thereby suggesting that violation of such rights may be remedied by equitable relief and/or damages but that violation of other constitutional rights of "lesser" dignity may not warrant relief in damages. The majority did not consider whether article I, section 2, subdivision (a) was intended to afford a damages remedy, and, instead, appears to have found a right to damages based upon a constitutional tort theory similar to that employed in Bivens and its progeny.

Shortly after Laguna Publishing was filed, the Court of Appeal in Fenton v. Groveland Community Services Dist. (1982) 135 Cal.App.3d 797 ( Fenton) considered a suit in which it was claimed that various county officials denied the plaintiffs their right to vote in a general election. The plaintiffs filed an action for damages to remedy the asserted violation of voting rights under California Constitution, article II, section 2. In the process of addressing various claims of immunity, and without focusing upon the propriety of damages as a remedy for the asserted violation, the court impliedly endorsed, in passing, the notion that there exists a right to seek damages to remedy a violation of the state constitutional right to vote. As in Laguna Publishing, supra, 131 Cal.App.3d 816, the court in Fenton did not consider whether our Constitution's right-to-vote provision was intended to afford such a remedy; instead, it simply relied upon Laguna Publishing and the asserted "special dignity" of the right to vote ( Fenton, at p. 805), and upon inverse condemnation case law. ( Ibid.)

Most subsequent California cases that have addressed the availability of damages — all decided by the Court of Appeal have taken an approach different from the "constitutional tort" analysis of Bivens and its progeny. Whereas Bivens and many of the federal and state decisions that have applied its principles have focused upon the circumstances in which a court should create or recognize a tort action premised upon violation of a constitutional provision, most California decisions issued during the past two decades, by contrast, have viewed the determinative question as whether an action for damages exists in (or can be inferred from) the constitutional provision at issue. Accordingly, most of the recent California decisions expressly focus their analysis upon whether the provision at issue was intended, either expressly or impliedly, to afford relief in damages.

In Leger v. Stockton Unified School District, supra, 202 Cal.App.3d 1448 ( Leger), a high school student who was assaulted in a restroom sued the school district for damages under the "safe schools" clause of California Constitution, article I, section 28, subdivision (c) (article I, section 28(c)). The Court of Appeal reviewed the history of that provision, which was added to the Constitution as part of a broad criminal justice initiative in 1982, and found "no indication . . . to suggest it was intended to support an action for damages in the absence of enabling and defining legislation." ( Leger, at p. 1456.) The court also observed that the plaintiff had not advanced a constitutional tort theory of recovery, and declined to address such a theory. ( Id., at p. 1457, fn. 4.) The court held that the plaintiff could not maintain an action for damages.

In Clausing v. San Francisco Unified School District (1991) 221 Cal.App.3d 1224 ( Clausing), the Court of Appeal considered an action for damages to remedy asserted violations of both the "safe schools" clause (art. I, § 28(c)) and the privacy clause (art. I, § 1) of the California Constitution, based upon a school district's alleged physical and emotional mistreatment of a handicapped student. On the first point, the court agreed with Leger, supra, 202 Cal.App.3d 1448, finding "nothing in the legislative history of section 28, subdivision (c), to suggest that it was intended to create a civil action for damages." ( Clausing, supra, 221 Cal.App.3d at p. 1237.) On the second point, the court summarily concluded that the privacy provision affords only a right to injunctive relief and does not afford a right to damages. ( Id., at p. 1238.) Accordingly, the court declined to allow either action for damages.

The plaintiffs in Gates v. Superior Court, supra, 32 Cal.App.4th 481 ( Gates) sought damages to remedy an asserted violation of their rights under the state equal protection clause (Cal. Const., art. I, § 7), based upon the allegedly discriminatory deployment of police protection during a riot. The court found that neither the language of the provision, nor the court's extensive review of the historical documents underlying the provision, revealed any intent to afford a damages remedy (32 Cal.App.4th at pp. 519-524), and declined to allow such an action.

In Bonner v. City of Santa Ana (1996) 45 Cal.App.4th 1465 ( Bonner), a homeless man stored his bag of possessions under a bush near the Santa Ana City Hall. City employees found the bag and discarded it. The plaintiff sued for damages, asserting violations of his due process right to property and of his equal protection rights. (Art. I, § 7(a).) Relying upon Gates, supra, 32 Cal.App.4th 481, the court found no intent by the electorate to provide a damages remedy for violations of the state equal protection clause, and declined to allow such an action. ( Bonner, supra, 45 Cal.App.4th at p. 1473.)

The court in Bonner also undertook an analysis of the voters' intent with regard to affording a damages action to remedy the asserted due process clause violation. ( Bonner, supra, 45 Cal.App.4th 1465, 1473-1476.) The court concluded from its review of Bivens, supra, 403 U.S. 388, and its progeny — notably, Davis, supra, 442 U.S. 228 — that the due process clause of the federal Constitution supports an action for damages, in the absence of an alternative or equally effective remedy. The court in Bonner hypothesized that the voters' intent in enacting the due process right set out in article I, section 7(a), was to mirror the due process right recognized in its federal counterpart, and accordingly the court in Bonner reasoned that in the absence of an alternative or equally effective remedy, the state due process clause similarly provided a right to damages. The court in Bonner ultimately concluded that damages were not available, however, on the ground that the plaintiff had an effective alternative remedy a common law action for conversion. ( Bonner, supra, 45 Cal.App.4th at pp. 1473-1476.)

Thereafter the plaintiff in Bradley v. Medical Board (1997) 56 Cal.App.4th 445 ( Bradley) asserted a due process violation under article I, section 7(a), relating to his surrender of a medical license while disciplinary charges were pending against him. He sought damages for the alleged violation. Relying upon Bonner, supra, 45 Cal.App.4th 1465, and Gates, supra, 32 Cal.App.4th 481, the court in Bradley summarily and categorically concluded: "There is . . . no right to sue for monetary damages under this constitutional provision." ( Bradley, supra, 56 Cal.App.4th at pp. 462-463.)

Apart from the present case and the companion matter, Degrassi, the most recent Court of Appeal decision addressing the general issue of money damages to remedy a state constitutional violation is Carlsbad Aquafarm, Inc. v. Department of Health Services (2000) 83 Cal.App.4th 809 ( Carlsbad Aquafarm). In that case, a shellfish producer sued a state agency for damages allegedly resulting from the agency's refusal to process a form that was required to permit the producer to sell its products outside California, a refusal that the producer claimed violated its procedural due process rights under article I, section 7(a). The court in Carlsbad Aquafarm held that no such action for damages could be maintained.

The court began by taking note of Bivens, supra, 403 U.S. 388, and most of the subsequent United States Supreme Court and California decisions discussed above. ( Carlsbad Aquafarm, supra, 83 Cal.App.4th 809, 816.) Having discerned "no single rationale underlying [those] decisions" ( ibid.), the court proposed an analysis that essentially combines (i) some of the policy-based factors that have been considered in the "constitutional tort" cases, and (ii) the intent-based analysis adopted by recent California Court of Appeal decisions: "On reviewing these decisions, we believe the issue of whether to recognize a state constitutional tort is essentially one of policy and is dependent on numerous factors, including (1) the voters' intent in permitting monetary damages for a violation of the particular constitutional provision[;] (2) the availability of another remedy; (3) the extent to which the provision is `self-executing' and the judicial manageability of the tort; and (4) the importance of the constitutional right." ( Id., at p. 817.) After "[a]pplying appropriate weight to each of these factors" ( ibid.), the court concluded that the plaintiff was not entitled to recover damages for the state's alleged violation of its procedural due process rights.

IV.

As we shall explain, we conclude it is appropriate to employ the following framework for determining the existence of a damages action to remedy an asserted constitutional violation. First, we shall inquire whether there is evidence from which we may find or infer, within the constitutional provision at issue, an affirmative intent either to authorize or to withhold a damages action to remedy a violation. In undertaking this inquiry we shall consider the language and history of the constitutional provision at issue, including whether it contains guidelines, mechanisms, or procedures implying a monetary remedy, as well as any pertinent common law history. If we find any such intent, we shall give it effect.

Second, if no affirmative intent either to authorize or to withhold a damages remedy is found, we shall undertake the "constitutional tort" analysis adopted by Bivens and its progeny. Among the relevant factors in this analysis are whether an adequate remedy exists, the extent to which a constitutional tort action would change established tort law, and the nature and significance of the constitutional provision. If we find that these factors militate against recognizing the constitutional tort, our inquiry ends. If, however, we find that these factors favor recognizing a constitutional tort, we also shall consider the existence of any special factors counseling hesitation in recognizing a damages action, including deference to legislative judgment, avoidance of adverse policy consequences, considerations of government fiscal policy, practical issues of proof, and the competence of courts to assess particular types of damages.

A.

We begin our inquiry by asking whether, when the constitutional provision at issue was adopted, the enactors intended that it include a damages remedy for its violation. ( Carlsbad Aquafarm, supra, 83 Cal.App.4th 809, 817; Gates, supra, 32 Cal.App.4th 481, 517-518, and cases cited; see generally White v. Davis, supra, 13 Cal.3d 757, 775.)

Such an intent may be quite clear on the face of a particular provision — for example, it is plain that California Constitution article I, section 19, which provides that "[p]rivate property may be taken for public use only when just compensation, ascertained by a jury unless waived, has first been paid to, or into court for, the owner," supports an action for money damages, and our cases consistently have so held. (See cases cited ante, fn. 11.) But with regard to most constitutional provisions, the words of the provision do not on their own manifest any such intent.

The due process clause of article I, section 7(a), falls within this latter category. It states in relevant part: "A person may not be deprived of life, liberty, or property without due process of law. . . ." These words do not explicitly disclose an intent either to authorize or to withhold damages as a remedy for a violation of the provision. Accordingly, we must look further in our attempt to discern whether article I, section 7(a) was intended to include a damages remedy.

1.

In considering evidence of an implied right to seek damages, we shall review the available drafting history of the provision at issue and materials that were before the voters when they adopted the measure.

Article I, section 7(a) was added to the state Constitution by the adoption of Proposition 7 on the November 1974 ballot. (See Gates, supra, 32 Cal.App.4th at pp. 522-524.) The ballot pamphlet provided to all voters prior to the general election in 1974 explained that the measure was designed to revise article I, the California Constitution's declaration of rights, in a number of respects, one of which was to set out some basic rights that were then "presently . . . contained in the federal Constitution" but not listed in the state charter. (Ballot Pamp., Gen. Elec. (Nov. 5, 1974) analysis of Prop. 7, p. 26.) Among such rights, the Legislative Analyst explained, was the following right: "(b) A person may not be deprived of life, liberty, or property without due process of the law." ( Ibid., italics added.)

Although the state Constitution long had contained a similarly worded due process provision prior to 1974 (see Cal. Const., former art. I, § 13 ["No person shall be . . . deprived of life, liberty, or property without due process of law"]; Cal. Const. of 1849, art. I, § 8 [same]), the previous incarnations of the state constitutional due process right were contained within broad provisions setting forth the rights of criminal defendants. The 1974 amendment, placing the clause in article I, section 7(a), was designed to make it clear that the due process guarantee applied not only in criminal prosecutions, but afforded a general civil right as well.

We have reviewed the relevant passages of the debates that preceded adoption of the 1849 and 1879 Constitutions. (See Browne, Report of the Debates in Convention of Cal. on Formation of State Const. (1850) pp. 30-31, 41 [adopting the due process language without debate], 474-475 [Address "To the People of California," introducing the proposed Constitution]; 2 Willis Stockton, Debates and Proceedings, Cal. Const. Convention 1878-1879, pp. 1188-1189, 1425-1426, 1491, 1509 [adopting the due process language without debate], 1521-1524 [Address "To the People of the State of California," introducing the proposed Constitution].) The parties have not cited, nor have we discovered, any indication in these materials suggesting that the drafters considered the question whether the predecessors to article I, section 7(a) would provide a remedy in damages for violation of the liberty interest of the due process clause. (Cf. Walinski, supra, 377 N.E.2d 242, 243-245 [drafters of the Illinois Constitution's antidiscrimination clause intended to create a right to enforce that provision through action for damages]; Brown, supra, 89 N.Y.2d 172, 189 [drafters of the New York Constitution assumed that damages would be allowed to remedy state search and seizure violations, and implicitly approved allowing that remedy].) Nor have we discovered any evidence that the drafters of the 1974 revision, which as noted broadened the due process guarantee so as to afford both criminal and civil rights, considered the issue or had any such intent. (See Cal. Const. Revision Com., Article I (Declaration of Rights) Background Study 2 (Aug. 1969) pp. 6-16 [concerning proposed revision of former article I, section 21]; id., Background Study 4 (Dec. 1969) pp. 19-28 [concerning proposed revision of former article I, section 13]; Cal. Const. Revision Com., Article I (Declaration of Rights) Rep. II (Jan. 1970) pp. 3-5 [concerning proposed revision of former article I, section 21]; id., Rep. IV (Feb. 1970) pp. 6-10 [concerning proposed revision of former article I, section 13]; Cal. Const. Revision Com., Proposed Revision, supra, p. 24 [concerning the right to due process in criminal proceedings]; id., at p. 29 [concerning extension of civil rights of due process and equal protection]; see generally Cal. Const. Revision Com., Rep., Materials Relating to Provisions in Cal. Const. Recommended or Endorsed by Com. (Dec. 10, 1974), pp. 74-82.)

We also have examined the materials that were placed before the voters when the provision last was amended in 1974. (Ballot Pamp., Gen. Elec. (Nov. 5, 1974) Prop. 7.) Like the Court of Appeal in Gates, supra, 32 Cal.App.4th 481, which examined these same materials in order to consider the voters' implied intent to create a damages remedy with respect to the equal protection clause of article I, section 7(a) ( Gates, at pp. 522-524), we find nothing in the ballot materials to suggest that the voters affirmatively intended to create, within article I, section 7(a), a damages remedy with respect to the due process clause set forth in this constitutional provision. Indeed, there is nothing to suggest that the issue was considered at all.

As noted above, one recent decision, Bonner, supra, 45 Cal.App.4th 1465, concluded otherwise, finding that the voters in 1974 intended to permit an action for damages to remedy a state due process violation if there is no alternative remedy. The court in Bonner reasoned that because the voters' pamphlet in 1974 advised that Proposition 7 would add rights "presently . . . contained in" the federal charter, and because in Davis, supra, 442 U.S. 228, the United States Supreme Court construed the equal protection component of the federal due process clause to permit a damages remedy for a violation in circumstances in which no other remedy was available, the voters who adopted Proposition 7 must have intended to provide a damages remedy for a state constitutional due process violation whenever a plaintiff has no alternative (or effective) remedy.

We find Bonner's voter intent analysis to be unpersuasive, and adopt the critique of that conclusion set out in Carlsbad Aquafarm, supra, 83 Cal.App.4th 809. As the Court of Appeal in Carlsbad Aquafarm pointed out: "First, Davis v. Passman, supra, 442 U.S. 228, and the subsequent United States Supreme Court authority relied upon by Bonner were decided after Proposition 7's adoption by the voters. It is not reasonable to infer from the single statement in the voter's pamphlet that the voters would have predicted the United States Supreme Court's extension of Bivens to a procedural due process claim. Second, the language in the voter pamphlet relied upon by the Bonner court states only that Proposition 7 puts `rights' into the state Constitution that `"presently are contained in the federal Constitution."' ( Bonner, supra, 45 Cal.App.4th at p. 1474, italics omitted.) This statement does not necessarily mean the voters would have understood they were adopting the analysis of the United States Supreme Court with respect to the existence of a damages remedy pertaining to those rights." ( Carlsbad Aquafarm, supra, 83 Cal.App.4th at p. 819.)

Plaintiff concedes that Bonner's analysis of voter intent is unpersuasive, but insists nevertheless that the voters must have intended to provide a damages remedy because without such a remedy the provision's adoption would be a "vain and meaningless act" and "any other construction [of the provision] would . . . make its language a mere mockery. . . ." We are unpersuaded. Even if the due process right embodied in article I, section 7(a) is enforceable only through an action for injunctive or declaratory relief, and not by an action for damages, this constitutional provision is hardly rendered innocuous or empty.

We conclude that the materials that were before the voters when they adopted the current version of article I, section 7(a) in November 1974, provide no basis upon which to infer an intent that the provision itself permit an action for damages to remedy a violation of that clause.

2.

We next consider the extent to which the provision, even if not setting forth an explicit indication of a right to damages, nevertheless contains "guidelines, mechanisms, or procedures from which a damages remedy could be inferred." ( Leger, supra, 202 Cal.App.3d at p. 1455; Carlsbad Aquafarm, supra, 83 Cal.App.4th 809, 822.) The presence of such express or implied guidelines, mechanisms, or procedures may support an inference that the provision was intended to afford such a remedy.

Again, we agree with the court in Carlsbad Aquafarm, supra, 83 Cal.App.4th 809, which, addressing this consideration in the context of alleged violations of the right to procedural due process, observed that article I, section 7(a) neither includes nor suggests any such guidelines, mechanisms, or procedures, but instead "reflects general principles `"`without laying down rules by means of which those principles may be given the force of law.'"' (See Leger, supra, 202 Cal.App.3d at p. 1455.)" (83 Cal.App.4th at p. 822.) Although plaintiff asserts that California courts are capable of fashioning procedures to govern damage claims in this context, and this may be so, it is not relevant to the point here at issue. The question at this stage of the analysis is whether there are guidelines, mechanisms, or procedures set out in (or reasonably inferable from) the provision itself from which we may infer that the voters, in adopting article I, section 7(a), affirmatively intended that the provision permit an action for damages to remedy a violation of that clause. Article I, section 7(a) contains no such guidelines, mechanisms or procedures.

3.

In considering evidence of an implied right to seek damages, we also believe it appropriate to examine, as have sister-state jurisdictions that have permitted damage suits to remedy search and seizure violations, common law history from which we might infer, within the provision at issue, an intent to provide an action for damages to remedy a violation of that provision. (See Brown, supra, 89 N.Y.2d 172, 188-189; Widgeon, supra, 479 A.2d 921, 923-925; Moresi, supra, 567 So.2d 1081, 1091-1093.)

For example, in recognizing a right to damages to remedy a violation of the state search and seizure and equal protection provisions, the New York Court of Appeals observed that "the courts have looked to the common-law antecedents of the constitutional provision to discover whether a damage remedy may be implied. New York's first Constitution in 1777 recognized and adopted the existing common law of England and each succeeding Constitution has continued that practice. Thus, in some cases, there exist grounds for implying a damage remedy based upon preexisting common-law duties and rights." ( Brown, supra, 89 N.Y.2d 172, 188.)

The court in Brown found such grounds for implying a right of action. First, the court observed, "[t]he prohibition against unlawful searches and seizures originated in the Magna Carta and has been part of our history since 1828. The civil cause of action was fully developed in England and provided a damage remedy for the victims of unlawful searches at common law (see, Huckle v. Money, 2 Wils. 205, 95 Eng. Rep. 768 [1763]; Wilkes v. Wood, Lofft 1, 98 Eng. Rep. 489 [1763]; Entick v. Carrington, 19 State Tr. 1029, [1558-1774] All ER Rep. 41 [1765])." ( Brown, supra, 89 N.Y.2d 172, 188, brackets in Brown.) Second, the court in Brown observed that this English common law rule had been endorsed and accepted by the New York court and by the drafters of the most recent state constitution ( ibid.), and hence found historical support for an implied remedy in damages. Similar reasoning supporting an action for damages to remedy a search and seizure violation has been embraced by the high courts of Maryland and Louisiana.

The parties have not cited, nor have we found, any similar history with respect to the liberty interest set out in article I, section 7(a), or its predecessors, former article I, section 13, and article I, section 8, of the Constitution of 1849.

We conclude that there is no indication in the language of article I, section 7(a), nor any evidence in the history of that section, from which we may find, within that provision, an implied right to seek damages for a violation of the due process liberty interest.

B.

This determination, however, does not end our inquiry. Just as we have not discovered any basis for concluding that a damages remedy was contemplated or reasonably might be inferred within article I, section 7(a) for violation of that provision, we also have not discovered any basis for concluding that a damages remedy was intended to be foreclosed. In such circumstances, we, like the United States Supreme Court and the courts of numerous other jurisdictions that have faced similar circumstances, shall proceed to consider whether a constitutional tort action for damages to remedy the asserted constitutional violation should be recognized.

As observed by Friesen, "[ Bivens, supra, 403 U.S. 388, and its progeny] actually illustrate a body of precedent established by state courts, . . . [and] expressed in section 874A of the Second Restatement of Torts." (Friesen, supra, § 7-5(c), at p. 420.)

The cited Restatement section provides: "When a legislative [or constitutional] provision protects a class of persons by proscribing or requiring certain conduct but does not provide a civil remedy for the violation, the court may, if it determines that the remedy is appropriate in furtherance of the purpose of the legislation and needed to assure the effectiveness of the provision, accord to an injured member of the class a right of action, using a suitable existing tort action or a new cause of action analogous to an existing tort action." (Rest.2d Torts, § 874A, bracketed material and italics added; see also id., com. (a), p. 301 ["legislative provision" includes constitutional provisions].)

In determining whether to recognize such a constitutional tort, courts have "look[ed] for the policy behind the legislative [or constitutional] provision, attempting to perceive the purpose for which it was enacted, and then, having ascertained that policy or purpose, [have] determine[ed] the most appropriate way to carry it out and identif[ied] the remedy needed to accomplish that result." (Rest.2d Torts, § 874A, com. (d), p. 303.)

We join the jurisdictions that have endorsed, implicitly or explicitly, the view set out in the Restatement, that courts, exercising their authority over the common law, may, in appropriate circumstances, recognize a tort action for damages to remedy a constitutional violation. (See Rest.2d Torts, § 874A, com. (g), pp. 306-308; Friesen, supra, at § 7-5(c), pp. 420-421.) We proceed to determine whether a tort action for damages is appropriate here.

1.

We first consider the adequacy of existing remedies. (See, e.g., Rest.2d Torts, § 874A, com. (h)(2), p. 309; Carlson, supra, 446 U.S. 14, 20-23; Davis, supra, 442 U.S. 228, 245; Bush, supra, 462 U.S. 367, 381-388; Schweiker, supra, 487 U.S. 412, 424-429; Malesko, supra, 122 S.Ct. 515, 522-523; Carlsbad Aquafarm, supra, 83 Cal.App.4th 809, 821; Dick Fischer, supra, 838 P.2d 263, 268; Kelley, supra, 627 A.2d 909, 923; Sundheim, supra, 926 P.2d 545, 549-553; Rockhouse, supra, 503 A.2d 1385, 1388-1389; Provens, supra, 594 N.E.2d 959, 963-965; Shields, supra, 658 A.2d 924, 929-934; Spackman, supra, 16 P.3d 533, 537-539.)

We conclude that this consideration does not support recognition of a constitutional tort cause of action for damages to remedy an asserted violation of the due process "liberty" interest under article I, section 7(a). In addressing a similar issue in Carlsbad Aquafarm, supra, 83 Cal.App.4th 809, the Court of Appeal reasoned: "Under Code of Civil Procedure section 1085, Aquafarm could have immediately petitioned the superior court for a writ of mandate ordering [the] Department to provide it with due process before it refused to reissue a [required form]. [Citations.] The essence of Aquafarm's due process claim was that it wanted a hearing to permit a neutral decision maker to determine whether [the] Department was correct in its determination that it had not complied with [national shellfish safety] standards. If Aquafarm had promptly filed for a writ of mandate, rather than waiting 14 months to file a civil complaint seeking compensatory damages, it could have achieved this desired objective." ( Id., at p. 821, fn. omitted.)

The same can be said here. As the Court of Appeal below observed, instead of attempting to proceed against defendants by asserting an action for damages, plaintiff could have sought to remedy the alleged violation of his due process liberty interest and his concomitant right to a "name-clearing hearing" by seeking a writ of mandate under Code of Civil Procedure section 1085, compelling defendants to provide a name-clearing hearing. Indeed, it seems ironic that, whereas in his pleadings below and in his briefs before this court plaintiff frames the issue narrowly — as whether he is entitled to damages to remedy defendants' failure to provide him with a timely name-clearing hearing — in fact, plaintiff himself did not timely seek to compel such a hearing through an action under section 1085. Moreover, plaintiff also could have sought to establish a violation of his due process liberty interest by seeking declaratory or injunctive relief. (See ante, pt. II.)

In addition, plaintiff had an adequate remedy for the alleged delay in offering an adequate "name-clearing hearing," by way of a defamation action. As the Regents observe, "because a plaintiff who timely sues for defamation may obtain damages for reputational injury, such damages are an adequate remedy for any actionable `delay' in providing a name-clearing hearing whose sole purpose is to protect the plaintiff's reputation."

The availability of these adequate alternative remedies militates against judicial creation of a tort cause of action for damages in the circumstances presented.

2.

Plaintiff suggests that a damages action to remedy an asserted violation of his due process liberty interest is contemplated by tort law as codified by Civil Code sections 1708 and 3333. The former section provides that "[e]very person is bound, without contract, to abstain from injuring the person or property of another, or infringing upon any of his rights." (Civ. Code, § 1708, italics added.) The latter statute provides, "for the breach of an obligation not arising from contract, the measure of damages, except where otherwise expressly provided by this Code, is the amount which will compensate for all the detriment proximately caused thereby, whether it could be anticipated or not." (Civ. Code, § 3333) Echoing the majority in Laguna Publishing, supra, 131 Cal.App.3d 816, which placed some reliance upon these statutes, plaintiff suggests that the asserted due process violation in this case falls within the ambit of section 1708, and that the violation "imports by reason of section 3333 a correlative right to recover any damages proximately resulting from the violation of such right. . . ." ( Id., at p. 854.)

As Justice Kaufman observed in his concurring and dissenting opinion in Laguna Publishing, however, Civil Code "section 3333 is not a substantive statute; it merely prescribes the general measure of damages in tort cases. Civil Code section 1708[,] which provides that every person is bound to abstain from injuring the person or property of another or infringing any of his rights, states a general principle of law, but it hardly provides support for the adoption of the novel legal proposition that a violation of subdivision (a) of section 2 of article I of the California Constitution gives rise to a direct cause of action for damages outside the parameters of recognized tort law. . . ." ( Laguna Publishing, supra, 131 Cal.App.3d 816, 859 (conc. dis. opn. of Kaufman, J.).) We reject plaintiff's contention that a damages action to remedy an asserted violation of his due process liberty interest is contemplated by tort law as codified by Civil Code sections 1708 and 3333.

3.

We also consider the nature of the provision and the significance of the purpose that it seeks to effectuate. (Rest.2d Torts, § 874A, com. (h)(1) (4), pp. 308-310.) As a general matter, the due process "liberty" interest of article I, section 7(a) is both important and fundamental.

Plaintiff relies upon Laguna Publishing, supra, 131 Cal.App.3d 816, in which the Court of Appeal majority stressed the " special dignity" of the rights of free speech and free press, while finding a right to seek damages to remedy a violation of the state free speech and free press clause, article I, section 2(a). ( Laguna Publishing, supra, 131 Cal.App.3d at p. 853, italics in original.) Subsequently, the court in Fenton, supra, 135 Cal.App.3d 797, reached a similar conclusion concerning a violation of the right to vote (art. II, § 2), relying upon Laguna Publishing, supra, and the asserted "special dignity" of the right to vote. Plaintiff asserts that a similar conclusion applies here.

Although we may agree that this factor, in the abstract, is a consideration that favors recognition of a constitutional tort action for damages, we also find persuasive the cautionary view set out in Carlsbad Aquafarm, supra, 83 Cal.App.4th 809: "While this factor may be a proper consideration in the overall analysis, it is not one upon which we place great significance. How does one rank the importance of different constitutional provisions? . . . [C]an we say a procedural due process right should be accorded more or less dignity [than free speech or voting rights]? We agree that the due process right is fundamental. But absent the applicability of the other relevant factors discussed here, the relative importance of the constitutional right is of little help in determining the availability of a damages remedy for a violation of that right." ( Id., at p. 823, italics added.)

The same can be said here. The availability of meaningful alternative remedies leads us to decline to recognize a constitutional tort to remedy the asserted violation of article I, section 7(a) in the case before us.

4.

V.

The judgment of the Court of Appeal is affirmed.

WE CONCUR:

KENNARD, J.

WERDEGAR, J.

CHIN, J.

MORENO, J.

BROWN, J., concurrs and dissents with separate opinion.