Pubdate: Wed, 27 Jan 2016
Source: Colorado Springs Independent (CO)
Column: Cannabiz
Copyright: 2016 Colorado Springs Independent
Contact:  http://www.csindy.com
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1536
Author: Nat Stein

FEDERAL JUDGE STRIKES DOWN LAWSUIT AGAINST RECREATIONAL MARIJUANA

Judge Robert E. Blackburn dismissed charges against Pueblo County, as 
well as other government agencies and officials, in a lawsuit that 
challenges the legality of recreational marijuana.

Filed in February 2015, the suit asked the U.S. District Court of 
Colorado to find Amendment 64 illegal due to conflict with the 
Supremacy Clause of the U.S. Constitution. The suit also asked the 
court to find Pueblo County guilty of violating the Racketeer 
Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO).

That federal law, created in the 1970s to civilly prosecute organized 
crime, has since been applied in cases against the likes of the 
Mafia, the Catholic church and FIFA (soccer's world governing body.) 
It essentially allows leaders of a criminal enterprise to be tried 
for crimes they didn't themselves commit, i.e. ordering a murder, 
assisting in a coverup or colluding to launder money.

Last February, the Washington, D.C.-based anti-marijuana group Safe 
Streets Alliance filed this suit, along with Pueblo County landowners 
Hope and Michael Reilly, against Rocky Mountain Organics, which was 
constructing a recreational grow facility near the Reillys' property 
in Rye. The plaintiffs also held responsible Gov. John Hickenlooper; 
Barbara J. Brohl, executive director of the Colorado Department of 
Revenue; W. Lewis Koski, director of the Colorado Marijuana 
Enforcement Division; the Pueblo County Board of County 
Commissioners; and the Pueblo County Liquor and Marijuana Licensing Board.

The plaintiffs argued that federal law supersedes state law, so those 
who own, do business with or fail to shut down Rocky Mountain 
Organics are all complicit in breaking the law under RICO.

Judge Blackburn dismissed these claims, concluding, in short, that 
private parties can't seek recourse for violations of the Supremacy 
Clause, which makes federal law the supreme law of the land. He also 
concluded that it's up to the U.S. attorney general and Department of 
Justice to enforce - or not enforce - the Controlled Substances Act, 
under which marijuana is still illegal. Blackburn's ruling cites the 
DOJ's "conscious, reasoned decision" to let states that have enacted 
marijuana legalization proceed without federal interference. 
Additionally, government entities can't be prosecuted under RICO, 
Judge Blackburn wrote, as "[they] cannot form specific criminal intent."

Only the public-sector defendants, however, are off the hook. Rocky 
Mountain Organics owners Joseph and Jason Licata, as well as the 
landowner, the leasor, an insurance company, and a developer are 
among the private-sector defendants named in the suit. All may still 
be looking at a RICO suit.

Safe Streets Alliance filed two RICO suits last February. The other 
was against Summit Marijuana and several banking, bonding and 
accounting companies with which the dispensary did business. Those 
financial companies either disavowed any association with Summit 
Marijuana or settled, and the suit was dropped. Summit was "forced to 
close," according to its website.

Though drug-law expert Sam Kamin told The Cannabist that Safe 
Streets' case would have lost at trial, he added that such suits "are 
going to be incredibly problematic for the industry going forward. 
The folks who helped to bring this suit and sought out plaintiffs for 
this suit are looking for more and other lawsuits."

Still, this is good news for Amendment 64 supporters. Between 
Blackburn's ruling and U.S. Solicitor General Donald Verrilli Jr. 
advising the U.S. Supreme Court to dismiss Nebraska and Oklahoma's 
lawsuit against Colorado, it is becoming increasingly unlikely that 
legalization will be struck down in court.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom