Johnson v. Arnold

It has uniformly been held that “mandamus can not be applied as a remedy to compel an act not authorized by law.” Hannah v. Lovelace-Young Lumber Co., 159 Ga. 859 (127 S. E. 225). “In a suit for mandamus, the duty which the complainant seeks to have enforced must be a duty arising by law, either expressly or by necessary implication; and the law must not only authorize the act to be done, but must require its performance.” Sibley v. Park, 175 Ga. 846 (166 S. E. 212). In the present case the effort is not to interfere with a discretion lawfully exercised by the mayor, or to compel an act not…