Search Results: appeals-court (9)

Jovan Jackson, from YouTube.

Just over one year ago, on October 24th, 2012, historical legal precedent was set in the state of California in regard to its ambiguous medical marijuana laws. San Diego based medical marijuana storefront owner, Jovan Jackson, had been tried in court twice, based first on entrapment style undercover buys in 2008 (acquitted of all charges), and then trumped up charges of possession and sale of marijuana after a raid on his shop in 2009, of which he was eventually found guilty.

The Daily Chronic

Appeals court issued rare order last week for supplemental briefing on “standing” in landmark federal case
Less than a week after oral arguments in the landmark federal case to reclassify marijuana for medical use, the plaintiffs filed an additional brief late yesterday at the request of the court. In the case Americans for Safe Access v. Drug Enforcement Administration, the D.C. Circuit issued an order last week seeking details on the harm sustained by plaintiff and disabled U.S. Air Force veteran Michael Krawitz as a result of the federal government’s policy on medical marijuana.
The federal appeals court will use this additional briefing to decide whether the plaintiffs have legal “standing” to bring such a lawsuit against the government. The lawsuit argues that the government has acted arbitrarily and capriciously by keeping marijuana classified as a Schedule I substance, a dangerous drug with no medical value.
By ignoring the overwhelming scientific evidence, ASA argues that the federal government has kept marijuana out of reach for millions of Americans who would otherwise benefit from its therapeutic value.

THC Finder

High Court prohibits municipalities from using Pack v. City of Long Beach to ban dispensaries
The California Supreme Court dismissed review on Wednesday of an important appellate court ruling affecting medical marijuana dispensaries throughout the state. Specifically, the High Court threw out the controversial decision in Pack v. City of Long Beach, which previously held that federal law preempted some forms of dispensary regulations.
The Pack decision has been used by several municipalities, including Los Angeles and Long Beach, to suspend or ban outright the distribution of medical marijuana. However, Wednesday’s dismissal of the Pack decision throws into question the viability of such bans.

BGR

After 246 Years, Court Legalizes Spying On Americans By Feds

The United States federal government can spy on the communications of Americans without warrants and without fear of being sued, a federal appeals court ruled on Tuesday. The decision reversed the one and only case that ever successfully challenged former President George W. Bush’s Terrorist Surveillance Program.

“This case effectively brings to an end the plaintiffs’ ongoing attempts to hold the executive branch responsible for intercepting telephone conversations without judicial authorization,” wrote a three-judge panel of the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals [PDF].

Mark Zaleski/Riverside Press-Enterprise
Medical marijuana patient Abel Chapa demonstrates in front of Riverside 4th District Court of Appeal as arguments are heard in two medical marijuana dispensary ban cases, one in Riverside and one in Upland

​In a decision that could have immediate effects, California cities and counties can ban medical marijuana dispensaries within their borders, a state appeals court has ruled.

Other courts have upheld local governments’ authority to restrict and zone the locations of the shops, or even declare temporary moratoriums, but Wednesday’s ruling, in a Riverside case, was the first to address a citywide ban, reports Bob Egelko at the San Francisco Chronicle.

The issue has made its way through the California courts for years, but the opinion issued Wednesday is the first one that directly addresses the issue in unambiguous language, reports John Hoeffel at the Los Angeles Times. The decision upholding Riverside’s dispensary ban will likely result in more cities and counties prohibiting the pot shops.

Graphic: The Pacific Northwest Inlander

​Medical marijuana dispensaries can be shut down as public nuisances, the Michigan Court of Appeals ruled in a decision announced Wednesday morning.

The three-judge panel, ruling on an Isabella County case, said the Michigan Medical Marihuana Act “does not include the patient-to-patient ‘sales,’ ” report Joe Swickard and John Wisely of the Detroit Free Press.

Unfortunately, the unfavorable decision can be used as precedent and applied to other cases.
A lower court had ruled that the Compassionate Apothecary was within the law when its operators allowed patients or caregivers to buy marijuana that other members had stored in their lockers rented from the facility. The owners, according to court papers, took at 20 percent cut of the price.
But Michigan’s medical marijuana law doesn’t include sales as “medical use,” according to the appellate judges’ 17-page opinion, and therefore it does not trump existing anti-drug laws.

Graphic: HighDef Forum

​A California appeals court declined Wednesday to decide whether the state’s medical marijuana laws prevent cities and counties from outlawing dispensaries, sending a highly anticipated, closely watched dispute over Anaheim’s three-year-old ban back to a lower court for more hearings.

The ruling by the 4th District Court of Appeal did not provide much-needed clarity regarding the argument on pot dispensaries in the state. According to California’s medical marijuana law, passed by the voters in 1996, marijuana can be used if a person has a recommendation from a physician.
Cities and dispensaries had been anticipating a major decision because the court had asked both sides for more information and took an unusually long time to reach a decision — a full year, rather than the typical three months, reports John Hoeffel at the Los Angeles Times.