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Judge Rules Against Alaska Marijuana Law
Matt Volz | The Seattle Times | 07/10/06

JUNEAU, Alaska – A judge on Monday struck down part of a new Alaska law criminalizing possession of small amounts of marijuana, saying it conflicts with past constitutional decisions made by the Alaska Supreme Court.

That means the police won't be able charge people with a misdemeanor under the new law for possessing less than 1 ounce of marijuana in their homes.

The state Department of Law was expected to quickly file an appeal with the high court.

Superior Court Judge Patricia Collins said a lower court can't reverse the state Supreme Court's 1975 decision in Ravin v. State. In that case, the Supreme Court ruled the right to privacy in one's home included the possession of small amounts of marijuana for personal use.

"Unless and until the Supreme Court directs otherwise, Ravin is the law in this state and this court is duty bound to follow that law," Collins wrote in her decision.

Collins granted a summary judgment to the American Civil Liberties Union of Alaska, which sued the state when the law took effect in June.

Collins limited her decision to possession of less than 1 ounce of marijuana, even though the new law increases penalties for possession of more than that amount. Before the law took effect in June, it had been legal in Alaska to possess up to 4 ounces of the drug.

Collins said she limited her decision because the ACLU argued that the only issue in this case is the Legislature's power to regulate possession of small amounts of marijuana.

"No specific argument has been advanced in this case that possession of more than 1 ounce of marijuana, even within the privacy of the home, is constitutionally protected conduct under Ravin or that any plaintiff or ACLU of Alaska member actually possesses more than 1 ounce of marijuana in their homes," Collins wrote.

The new law makes possession of 4 ounces or more a felony. Possession of 1 to 4 ounces is a misdemeanor punishable by up to a year in jail. The part the court ruled against was that less than 1 ounce would be a misdemeanor punishable by up to 90 days in jail.

"Our initial interpretation of this case at this point is that Judge Collins' decision makes it clear that the state has the ability to regulate marijuana uses in amounts greater that 1 ounce," Department of Law spokesman Mark Morones said.

The state Department of Law argued that new findings of marijuana's increased potency since the 1975 decision justify reconsidering the issue.

ACLU of Alaska executive director Michael Macleod-Ball lauded the reasoning behind Collins' decision.

"If a lower court could just overturn a higher court's opinion at any time, our court system would be in disarray," he said. "The notion of privacy in one's home is upheld. That's what we've been saying all along."

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KWhite

This is good news.

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"Your mind is your own, your body as well, from the soul we need not speak, tend it well, making those decisions you deem worthy, aware all responsibility is in your hands when the smoke clears" Kelly L. White

"It is a principle of natural justice that when bad men make bad laws, or when unprincipled authorities compromise good ones, citizens are justified in protecting themselves from the very authority that compromised law and order." Gandhi

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Passage

ACLU should appeal to change it back to 4 ounces instead of 1.

Buzzby

When the appeal reaches the AK Supreme Court, that court may well declare all of the anti-marijuana provisions of the bill unconstitutional. They directly contravene the decisions of that court since 1975.

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replica

Score one for the good guys.

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sleep please

Moderation is a smoker's best friend

More Rights, Please.

 

Zubi420

Unfortunately the bad guys have far more points than us.

sknnywhiteboy

Glad to see this, one small step for us.. for now. *gulp*