Federal prosecutors cannot punish two Northern California marijuana growers for violating U.S. drug laws because Congress has protected pot suppliers who follow the state’s medical marijuana law, a federal appeals court ruled Friday.
In a 2-1 ruling, the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco upheld a federal judge’s decision that two men whose property in Humboldt County was raided by federal drug agents in 2012 had complied with California’s medical marijuana law and could not be sentenced as drug dealers under federal law.
Both men had pleaded guilty to federal charges in 2014, a year before Congress barred the Justice Department from spending money to interfere with a state’s medical marijuana law. California voters approved the nation’s first such law in 1996, and 20 years later approved another law legalizing possession, use and cultivation for personal use of marijuana by adults over 21.
The appeals court had ruled in a separate case in 2016 that the budget restriction prohibited federal prosecution of growers who could prove they were following the state’s medical marijuana law. A year later, U.S. District Judge Richard Seeborg cited that ruling to bar federal sentencing of the two marijuana growers, the first such decision in the nation. Their lawyer, Ronald Richards, said Friday’s decision was the first by a U.S. appeals court to prohibit federal marijuana prosecution under the congressional restrictions.
“People are still going to prison for marijuana offenses, notwithstanding the fact that most states have medical marijuana laws and many states have legalized marijuana,” Richards said. “This ruling paves the way for others to challenge these prosecutions and not have the decision upset by an appellate court reweighing the evidence.”
He said his clients, Anthony Pisarski and Sonny Moore, would ask Seeborg to withdraw their guilty pleas.
The Justice Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Federal policy on the issue has varied under both the Obama and the Trump administrations. Then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced in January 2018 that his office would resume federal marijuana prosecutions nationwide regardless of state laws, but his successor, William Barr, promised at his Senate confirmation hearing in January 2019 that he would not prosecute growers who complied with state marijuana laws.
Pisarski and Moore were arrested in July 2012 by officers who said they found 327 marijuana plants, along with two loaded guns and $416,000 in cash on their property in a remote area of central Humboldt County. Searches over the next year uncovered more firearms, cash, and gold and silver bars.
The two men presented evidence that they grew the marijuana for nearby nonprofit collectives, which reimbursed them for their costs, and that they were abiding by the state law’s ban on growing marijuana for profit. Federal prosecutors argued that the cash, gold and silver were evidence of a profit-making business, but Seeborg disagreed, noting that such transactions were often made in cash because banks refused to serve marijuana businesses.
Upholding his ruling, the appeals court said prosecutors had not presented any evidence of past or future marijuana sales by the growers, other than the legal transactions with the collectives.
“The presence of weapons and excessive amounts of cash on the Humboldt property was equally consistent with the operation of a rural, cash-intensive enterprise as it was with an unlawful marijuana operation,” said Judge M. Margaret McKeown in the majority opinion. She was joined by Judge Eugene Siler of the federal appeals court in Cincinnati, temporarily assigned to the Ninth Circuit.
Dissenting Judge J. Clifford Wallace said the cash, guns and ammunition were evidence of a for-profit operation that would have violated California law.
Source
This is awesome. This is a huge win. Thank you 9th Circuit Court Of Appeals for seeing reason. They don't often do that.
Showing posts with label 9th circuit court of appeal. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 9th circuit court of appeal. Show all posts
Sunday, July 12, 2020
Monday, May 9, 2016
Don't let Big Labor get away with labeling the National Right To Work Act unconstitutional
From The National Right To Work Foundation:
With the sudden passing of U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, the union bosses smell blood in the water.
With one legal case, quietly filed in federal court in Idaho, you and I could be facing the biggest forced-dues threat we've seen from Big Labor in decades.
Not long ago, with the help of a Harvard Law professor and former SEIU union official, Big Labor launched a brand-new legal assault -- one in which they're counting on a majority of the current and potentially future Justices of the U.S. Supreme Court to rubber stamp.
Their claim is that the very concept of Right to Work is somehow UNCONSTITUTIONAL!
As outlandish as that sounds, in today's warped world of legal logic, it's a very real threat. And should the union bosses get their way:
***EVERY state Right to Work Law in the country could be wiped out -- beginning almost immediately with Arizona, Idaho and Nevada.
***The National Right to Work Act would effectively be KILLED forever.
***Big Labor would gain an airtight stranglehold on Washington, D.C. that could last for DECADES.
I don't want to mince words here.
This is an all-out EMERGENCY.
Will you please sign your Legal Defense Authorization Form, directing the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation to FIGHT this critical case IMMEDIATELY?
I'll admit -- when I first read through the basis of the union bosses' ridiculous legal case -- I could only shake my head.
Big Labor is effectively arguing that workers who refuse to pay union dues are violating the Fifth Amendment's "takings clause," claiming the U.S. Constitution mandates that workers MUST pay for Big Labor monopoly "representation" whether they want it or not!
In so doing, of course, they're leaving out some inconvenient "details" . . .
. . . Details like the fact that Big Labor exercises special privileges in federal law to FORCE their representation on workers who don't want it through monopoly bargaining.
This is the corrupt scheme that should be ended -- NOT workers' ability to decide for themselves whether or not to pay union dues!
But despite all of these facts I'm afraid this is not something you and I can ignore -- not with this case likely to be heard by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.
As you probably know, the Ninth Circuit has become infamous for its highly politicized, pie-in-the-sky legal rulings in recent years.
So it's no accident the union bosses chose to file this lawsuit where they hope their black-robed buddies will be quick to sign off on their legal assault.
If this union boss legal assault is ultimately successful, every state Right to Work law in the country will be DESTROYED!
Not only that, but that decision would likely invalidate the constitutionality of the National Right to Work Act as well!
With all state Right to Work Laws gone, union bosses would be free to force workers to pay union dues in all 50 states.
That alone would set off a nightmare scenario, including:
***DOUBLING the $11 BILLION the union bosses rake in every year in forced-union dues, bankrolling a union-label political machine that would have an iron lock on Washington, D.C. -- perhaps for DECADES;
***Skyrocketing taxes and inflation as forced-dues-funded government union bosses live high on the hog while the rest of America suffers, jobs are lost and more and more companies move overseas;
***Never-ending spending on Big Labor's favorite government programs, driving our national debt even higher;
***Bailouts and sweetheart deals for big companies with fat union payrolls, while smaller mom and pop businesses -- too small for Big Labor's "first wave" of organizing -- get strangled with government regulations;
I'm afraid it's a DISASTER in the making. . .
And it staggers me to think just how close to a reality this scenario may be right now.
As I write you, National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation attorneys are preparing to strike back, putting the finishing touches on our first legal brief in response.
And I'm not going to kid you.
As frivolous as this case may be, I don't believe for a second it will be won over night.
I'm afraid Big Labor has had this up their sleeves for some time.
After all, the union bosses know nearly 80% of the American people are opposed to forced-unionism.
They know the National Right to Work Act is gaining support in Congress.
They know as more and more states pass Right to Work and experience the very real benefits that come from ending forced-unionism, their forced-dues-funded empire will only continue to crumble.
>>>After Indiana passed Right to Work, the union bosses tried and failed to invalidate it through state court rulings.
>>>Then, in Michigan, they tried a referendum to stop Right to Work from EVER being enacted there -- but it ended up backfiring, paving the way for legislative passage.
>>>Now, after passage of Right to Work in Wisconsin and West Virginia, the union bosses see the American people rising up against their forced-dues empire.
Now Big Labor has cooked up this horrendous legal scheme to silence the voice of Americans by having the federal courts impose forced-unionism on all of us!
The good news is, the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation is THE organization to stop them.
After all, it was our team of attorneys that helped defeat Big Labor's assault on Indiana's Right to Work Law.
Not only that, but Foundation attorneys have successfully argued before the U.S. Supreme Court 17 times and have won literally thousands of lower court decisions.
No other organization boasts a staff with this kind of pedigree or our track record of success.
That said, Foundation attorneys are already representing over 47,000 employees, in 298 open cases over just the last 12 months, who have been harmed by the injustices of forced-unionism.
Each and every one of these cases is designed to protect or expand critical legal precedents that last far into the future.
So taking on a new case -- especially one of this magnitude -- is a huge commitment.
The costs are likely to run well into the HUNDREDS of thousands, which we can't afford with our bank accounts as they stand today.
That's why I'm writing.
As I explained, there is no way we can ignore this threat -- not with so much at stake.
I simply must hear from you.
Your signature on the Legal Defense Authorization Form I've crafted for you will tell me everything I need to know.
It will tell me you're directing the Foundation to fight this Big Labor legal assault with everything we have.
But frankly I need more than your signature right now.
I know this is really asking you to stretch -- in fact, I'm almost hesitant to ask for this much -- but I'm really hoping you will come through with a generous tax-deductible contribution of $35.
That's a lot, I know.
It's much more than you've ever given in the past.
But in a "do or die" fight like this, I can't hold anything back.
I hope you won't either.
Of course, if $35 is just too much, please agree to $25, $15 or whatever you can afford.
At a minimum, please give $10.
I apologize for being so forward and asking so much of you.
But with so much on the line, I have to. I hope you understand that.
Please sign your Legal Defense Authorization Form today, and agree to your most generous contribution of $35, $25, $15 or at least $10 right away.
There's no time to waste.
I need to hear from you right away.
Sincerely,
Mark Mix
President, National Right to Work Foundation
P.S.With one quietly filed legal case in federal court in Idaho, you and I are facing the biggest forced-dues threat we've seen from Big Labor in decades.
Should Big Labor get its way, every state Right to Work Law could be wiped off the books, the National Right to Work Act would be killed and the union bosses will have an airtight stranglehold on Washington, D.C. for years to come.
I'm counting on your help to stop it.
Will you please sign your Legal Defense Authorization Form, directing the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation to FIGHT this critical case IMMEDIATELY?
Well then let's take a look at the Fifth Amendment shall we:
Amendment 5 - Trial and Punishment, Compensation for Takings
No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the Militia, when in actual service in time of War or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offense to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.
Source
No matter how many times I read it it says nothing about labor unions nor does it discuss if you should donate to a labor union or not nor does it access a fine or other punishment if you don't join or support a labor union. Let's just say that the Fifth Amendment does not cover labor unions whatsoever. So why are they lying like they are? Good question.
With the sudden passing of U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, the union bosses smell blood in the water.
With one legal case, quietly filed in federal court in Idaho, you and I could be facing the biggest forced-dues threat we've seen from Big Labor in decades.
Not long ago, with the help of a Harvard Law professor and former SEIU union official, Big Labor launched a brand-new legal assault -- one in which they're counting on a majority of the current and potentially future Justices of the U.S. Supreme Court to rubber stamp.
Their claim is that the very concept of Right to Work is somehow UNCONSTITUTIONAL!
As outlandish as that sounds, in today's warped world of legal logic, it's a very real threat. And should the union bosses get their way:
***EVERY state Right to Work Law in the country could be wiped out -- beginning almost immediately with Arizona, Idaho and Nevada.
***The National Right to Work Act would effectively be KILLED forever.
***Big Labor would gain an airtight stranglehold on Washington, D.C. that could last for DECADES.
I don't want to mince words here.
This is an all-out EMERGENCY.
Will you please sign your Legal Defense Authorization Form, directing the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation to FIGHT this critical case IMMEDIATELY?
I'll admit -- when I first read through the basis of the union bosses' ridiculous legal case -- I could only shake my head.
Big Labor is effectively arguing that workers who refuse to pay union dues are violating the Fifth Amendment's "takings clause," claiming the U.S. Constitution mandates that workers MUST pay for Big Labor monopoly "representation" whether they want it or not!
In so doing, of course, they're leaving out some inconvenient "details" . . .
. . . Details like the fact that Big Labor exercises special privileges in federal law to FORCE their representation on workers who don't want it through monopoly bargaining.
This is the corrupt scheme that should be ended -- NOT workers' ability to decide for themselves whether or not to pay union dues!
But despite all of these facts I'm afraid this is not something you and I can ignore -- not with this case likely to be heard by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.
As you probably know, the Ninth Circuit has become infamous for its highly politicized, pie-in-the-sky legal rulings in recent years.
So it's no accident the union bosses chose to file this lawsuit where they hope their black-robed buddies will be quick to sign off on their legal assault.
If this union boss legal assault is ultimately successful, every state Right to Work law in the country will be DESTROYED!
Not only that, but that decision would likely invalidate the constitutionality of the National Right to Work Act as well!
With all state Right to Work Laws gone, union bosses would be free to force workers to pay union dues in all 50 states.
That alone would set off a nightmare scenario, including:
***DOUBLING the $11 BILLION the union bosses rake in every year in forced-union dues, bankrolling a union-label political machine that would have an iron lock on Washington, D.C. -- perhaps for DECADES;
***Skyrocketing taxes and inflation as forced-dues-funded government union bosses live high on the hog while the rest of America suffers, jobs are lost and more and more companies move overseas;
***Never-ending spending on Big Labor's favorite government programs, driving our national debt even higher;
***Bailouts and sweetheart deals for big companies with fat union payrolls, while smaller mom and pop businesses -- too small for Big Labor's "first wave" of organizing -- get strangled with government regulations;
I'm afraid it's a DISASTER in the making. . .
And it staggers me to think just how close to a reality this scenario may be right now.
As I write you, National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation attorneys are preparing to strike back, putting the finishing touches on our first legal brief in response.
And I'm not going to kid you.
As frivolous as this case may be, I don't believe for a second it will be won over night.
I'm afraid Big Labor has had this up their sleeves for some time.
After all, the union bosses know nearly 80% of the American people are opposed to forced-unionism.
They know the National Right to Work Act is gaining support in Congress.
They know as more and more states pass Right to Work and experience the very real benefits that come from ending forced-unionism, their forced-dues-funded empire will only continue to crumble.
>>>After Indiana passed Right to Work, the union bosses tried and failed to invalidate it through state court rulings.
>>>Then, in Michigan, they tried a referendum to stop Right to Work from EVER being enacted there -- but it ended up backfiring, paving the way for legislative passage.
>>>Now, after passage of Right to Work in Wisconsin and West Virginia, the union bosses see the American people rising up against their forced-dues empire.
Now Big Labor has cooked up this horrendous legal scheme to silence the voice of Americans by having the federal courts impose forced-unionism on all of us!
The good news is, the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation is THE organization to stop them.
After all, it was our team of attorneys that helped defeat Big Labor's assault on Indiana's Right to Work Law.
Not only that, but Foundation attorneys have successfully argued before the U.S. Supreme Court 17 times and have won literally thousands of lower court decisions.
No other organization boasts a staff with this kind of pedigree or our track record of success.
That said, Foundation attorneys are already representing over 47,000 employees, in 298 open cases over just the last 12 months, who have been harmed by the injustices of forced-unionism.
Each and every one of these cases is designed to protect or expand critical legal precedents that last far into the future.
So taking on a new case -- especially one of this magnitude -- is a huge commitment.
The costs are likely to run well into the HUNDREDS of thousands, which we can't afford with our bank accounts as they stand today.
That's why I'm writing.
As I explained, there is no way we can ignore this threat -- not with so much at stake.
I simply must hear from you.
Your signature on the Legal Defense Authorization Form I've crafted for you will tell me everything I need to know.
It will tell me you're directing the Foundation to fight this Big Labor legal assault with everything we have.
But frankly I need more than your signature right now.
I know this is really asking you to stretch -- in fact, I'm almost hesitant to ask for this much -- but I'm really hoping you will come through with a generous tax-deductible contribution of $35.
That's a lot, I know.
It's much more than you've ever given in the past.
But in a "do or die" fight like this, I can't hold anything back.
I hope you won't either.
Of course, if $35 is just too much, please agree to $25, $15 or whatever you can afford.
At a minimum, please give $10.
I apologize for being so forward and asking so much of you.
But with so much on the line, I have to. I hope you understand that.
Please sign your Legal Defense Authorization Form today, and agree to your most generous contribution of $35, $25, $15 or at least $10 right away.
There's no time to waste.
I need to hear from you right away.
Sincerely,
Mark Mix
President, National Right to Work Foundation
P.S.With one quietly filed legal case in federal court in Idaho, you and I are facing the biggest forced-dues threat we've seen from Big Labor in decades.
Should Big Labor get its way, every state Right to Work Law could be wiped off the books, the National Right to Work Act would be killed and the union bosses will have an airtight stranglehold on Washington, D.C. for years to come.
I'm counting on your help to stop it.
Will you please sign your Legal Defense Authorization Form, directing the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation to FIGHT this critical case IMMEDIATELY?
Well then let's take a look at the Fifth Amendment shall we:
Amendment 5 - Trial and Punishment, Compensation for Takings
No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the Militia, when in actual service in time of War or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offense to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.
Source
No matter how many times I read it it says nothing about labor unions nor does it discuss if you should donate to a labor union or not nor does it access a fine or other punishment if you don't join or support a labor union. Let's just say that the Fifth Amendment does not cover labor unions whatsoever. So why are they lying like they are? Good question.
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