Activists Invervene To Stop Cannabis Lawsuit
Can a county board of supervisors sue a state in federal court to overturn a state law? Medical cannabis supporters in California say counties have no jurisdiction to carry out such a lawsuit, but they're taking their objections to court just to be sure.
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), Americans for Safe Access (ASA), the Drug Policy Alliance (DPA), and several patient plaintiffs filed a motion in federal court today to intervene in the San Diego County Board of Supervisors’ lawsuit against the State of California. The Supervisors’ lawsuit seeks to overturn California’s Compassionate Use Act (Prop. 215), which permits patients to use medical cannabis with a doctor's recommendation.
San Diego is the first county in California to defy the state-mandated medical marijuana ID card and registry program that went into effect this month. The County Board of Supervisors voted in December to sue the state rather than follow Proposition 215 and implement the program. This is the first such lawsuit to overturn medical marijuana laws which have been passed in 11 states.
The Board of Supervisors of San Bernardino County also voted this morning to file their own lawsuit against the state of California opposing Prop. 215.
ASA director Steph Sherer, and other critics of the lawsuit, assert that a subdistrict of a state cannot sue the state itself in federal court. A letter delivered by medical cannabis supporters to supervisors this morning reemphasized their postiion that the lawsuit has no merit. "Unambiguous binding Ninth Circuit precedent clearly holds that as a political subdivision of the State, San Diego County has no standing to sue the State in federal court alleging claims premised upon the Supremacy Clause of the U.S. Constitution," reads the letter.
"The case law is very clear," said Sherer who accompanied the patient plaintiffs to the Supervisor's meeting today.
"We went in and testified in front of the board and held a press conference at noon and asked them for one more chance to remove their lawsuit and they said no, so we are intervening," said Sherer. "We feel very confident that this whole case is going to be dropped after the attorney general files the motion to dismiss. But just in case, we wanted to make sure that someone was looked out not just for California, but for the patients of California."
