[Em InglẽS] California Supreme Court Lets Collective Marijuana Cultivation Continue

[Bas]

By Steve Elliott

SF Weekly

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.

"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."

alguem poderia traduzir???

[Canadense]

amanha farei... mas ta ai.. Obama fazendo a dele...suprema corte levando em conta as recomendações...

[PPerverso]

Yeah! "Delegadinho" folgado, insistia em combater a canabis quando deveria era obedecer a lei estadual californiana.

Os cultivos coletivos ganharam uma reafirmação de que não é necessário desempenhar funções fisicas no cultivo, pode inclusive participar financeiramente.

Em suma, o mais relevante eu achei que foi isso.

"Garota eu vou pra california..." adoro essa música hehehehe

[dogo420]

Vitória pro pessoal da Califórnia! :pulafuma:

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.

[Bas]

boa Pervo

garota eu vou pra califooooooorrniaaaaa

bwd, poe a agua no feijao e ja avisa no hash bar q to cheganuuuuu!!!