Chronic City: Let Them Grow Pot -- California Supreme Court Lets Collective Marijuana Cultivation Continue
Thu., Sep. 24 2009 @ 1:25PM
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| dea.gov |
| Leave that weed alone, officer! |
Rural sheriff's departments in California may have to find a new pastime to replace bullying medical marijuana growers. In a major victory for pot advocates, the California Supreme Court -- right around harvest time! -- has refused to review a landmark appellate court ruling protecting the right of medical marijuana patients and their caregivers to collectively grow weed.
The 2-1 ruling by California's Third Appellate District Court also affirmed patients' ability to take civil action when their right to collectively cultivate marijuana is violated by law enforcement. The case, County of Butte v. Superior Court, involved a private seven-patient medical marijuana collective in Paradise, California (oh! the delicious irony -- props to God or whomever is responsible).
Americans for Safe Access (ASA), a nationwide medical marijuana advocacy group, filed a May 2006 lawsuit on behalf David Williams, 56, and half a dozen other collective members after the Butte County Sheriff's Department conducted a warrantless search of Williams' home in 2005. The officers forced Williams to uproot more than two dozen plants, threatening him with arrest and prosecution if he didn't comply.
Williams was incorrectly told by Deputy Jacob Hancock that his
collectively cultivated marijuana was illegal. California state law, in
fact, does allow for collective cultivation.
Butte
County Sheriff/Coroner Perry Reniff and his department were attempting
to impose a de facto ban on medical marijuana patient collectives,
according to ASA.
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| Photo: ASA |
| Joe Elford, Americans for Safe Access |
"By refusing to review this case, the California Supreme Court sends a
strong message that local law enforcement must uphold the medical
marijuana laws of the state and not competing federal laws," said Joe
Elford, ASA chief counsel, who litigated the case for Williams.
According to the July 2009 appellate court ruling, the "deputy was
acting under color of California law, not federal law. Accordingly, the
propriety of his conduct is measured by California law."
The
court went further, stating that to deny medical marijuana patients
protection from warrantless intrusions and seizures by law enforcement
"would surely shock the sensibilities of the voters who approved
[Proposition 215]."
The landmark decision said
that the Compassionate Use Act of 1996 is not simply an affirmative
defense to criminal sanctions, holding that it consisted of "...an
opportunity for an individual to request the same constitutional
guarantee of due process available to all individuals, no matter what
their status, under state state Constitution. The fact that this case
involves medical marijuana and a qualified medial marijuana patient
does not change these fundamental constitutional rights or an
individual's right to assert them."
The
appellate court ruling upheld Butte County Superior Court Judge Barbara
Roberts' ruling from September 2007, in which she stated that seriously
ill patients cultivating marijuana collectively "should not be required
to risk criminal penalties and the stress and expense of a criminal
trial in order to assert their rights. Roberts' ruling also
rejected Butte County's policy of requiring all members to physically
participate in the cultivation, thereby allowing collective members to
"contribute financially" rather than with sweat equity.
The
Butte County Sheriff's Department was already known for its zealous
anti-marijuana enforcement. The first medical marijuana supplier in the
state to be prosecuted in federal court after the passage of
Proposition 215 was originally arrested by Butte County officers. Chico
resident Bryan Epis received a 10-year sentence in federal court in
2002 for medical marijuana cultivation after Butte County officers
raided his home in 1997 and seized 458 plants.
Observers
of the medical marijuana scene say the court decision could have
repercussions statewide in other (predominantly rural) counties with
pot-phobic local law enforcement. Elford said he has received hundreds
of complaints from medical marijuana patients about local anti-pot cops
seizing their drugs on the logic that "we'll take it from you and let
the courts sort it out."
Repeated
reports of problematic behavior by Butte County law enforcement, as well
as other police agencies throughout the state, resulted in the filing
of the Williams lawsuit, according to ASA.
"After
uncovering Butte County's de facto ban on medical marijuana patient
collectives, ASA decided to pursue the case to show that collectives
and cooperatives are protected under state law," said ASA media liaison
Kris Hermes.
"In addition to protecting
patients' rights to collectively cultivate, the Court has reaffirmed
that medical marijuana patients enjoy the same constitutional rights as
everyone else," said Elford, "including the ability to file civil
rights actions when those rights are violated."
2 comment(s) / Post a Comment
MMJSpots says:
We are so sick of seeing collectives and people's homes get raided by law enforcement. Unite together people! Check out our site for more info
Posted On: Thursday, Sep. 24 2009 @ 7:27PM
Joanna (JamaGenie) says:
Amazing how Bubba LLEs (local law enforcement) turn into Feds as soon as they put in the uniform. 'Bout time the courts tell them to stick to the laws in their own jurisdictions.
Posted On: Sunday, Sep. 27 2009 @ 5:56AM
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