{"id":56204,"date":"2022-07-28T12:31:06","date_gmt":"2022-07-28T20:31:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/2022\/07\/28\/15-state-attorneys-general-file-brief-opposing-lawsuit-to-help-put-medical-marijuana-on-nebraska-ballot\/"},"modified":"2022-07-28T20:45:36","modified_gmt":"2022-07-29T04:45:36","slug":"15-state-attorneys-general-file-brief-opposing-lawsuit-to-help-put-medical-marijuana-on-nebraska-ballot","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/2022\/07\/28\/15-state-attorneys-general-file-brief-opposing-lawsuit-to-help-put-medical-marijuana-on-nebraska-ballot\/","title":{"rendered":"15 State Attorneys General File Brief Opposing Lawsuit To Help Put Medical Marijuana On Nebraska Ballot"},"content":{"rendered":"<\/p>\n

\u201cWe won\u2019t be intimidated and we will not back down.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

By Aaron Sanderford, Nebraska Examiner<\/strong><\/p>\n

Attorneys general from 15 conservative-led states filed a brief this week backing Nebraska\u2019s legal fight to save a state constitutional requirement that people petitioning a measure onto the ballot must gather signatures from much of the state.<\/p>\n

The brief was filed in a federal civil rights lawsuit brought May 16 by Nebraskans for Medical Marijuana and ACLU Nebraska<\/a> against Secretary of State Bob Evnen (R), arguing that the state\u2019s geographic requirement dilutes the \u201cone man, one vote\u201d value of signatures of urban Nebraskans by giving more weight to signatures from rural Nebraskans.<\/p>\n

The 15 states argue that federal judges have a limited role in reviewing \u201cstate-created systems\u201d governing elections. States make similar arguments to defend gerrymandering, the ability of states to draw political boundaries to political advantage.<\/p>\n

The states in the brief argue that Nebraska\u2019s requirement can be met legally. The brief questions whether a lower court had the legal right to enjoin the requirement without showing practical difficulties that the requirement created for the initiative process.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Constitution protects the right to vote for one\u2019s representatives in the republican form of government it guarantees,\u201d the attorneys general wrote. \u201cIt does not regulate an entirely state-created right to direct democracy via ballot measures.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Nebraska Constitution requires people circulating petitions for ballot initiatives to gather signatures from 5 percent of registered voters in 38 of the state\u2019s 93 counties. A state appeal restored the requirement while the federal lawsuit against it progresses.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo matter what county we live in, our signatures on a petition should carry equal weight,\u201d ACLU Nebraska attorney Jane Seu said. \u201cNothing in this new amicus brief offers a compelling argument as to why Nebraskans should continue to be deprived of equal power.\u201d<\/p>\n

The states backing Nebraska\u2019s case are Arkansas, Alabama, Alaska, Florida, Idaho, Indiana, Louisiana, Missouri, Montana, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Utah and West Virginia.<\/p>\n

Nebraska Attorney General Doug Peterson (R) said the brief from other states \u201cdemonstrates that the district court\u2019s decision threatens to give federal courts the power to micromanage states\u2019 initiative processes.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe appreciate their efforts to bring these concerns to the Eighth Circuit\u2019s attention,\u201d Peterson said.<\/p>\n

State Sen. Adam Morfeld (D) of Lincoln, co-chair of the effort to let voters choose whether to legalize medical marijuana<\/a>, described the other states\u2019 brief as \u201can unprecedented attack\u201d on \u201cNebraskans\u2019 right to have a constitutional ballot initiative process.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe won\u2019t be intimidated and we will not back down,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The petition group turned in 93,000 and 91,000 signatures July 7 for two ballot initiatives needed to legalize medical marijuana. About 87,000 valid signatures are needed.<\/p>\n

The Nebraska Secretary of State\u2019s Office said Thursday it expects to finish verifying the petition signatures in August.<\/p>\n

New briefs are due soon in the appeal of an Eighth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruling to pause or stay the temporary injunction that a lower court granted against the state\u2019s geographic requirement.<\/p>\n

This story was first published by Nebraska Examiner.<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

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Bipartisan \u2018DANK Cannabis Research\u2019 Bill Filed In Congress (Really)<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

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Photo courtesy of Philip Steffan<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

The post 15 State Attorneys General File Brief Opposing Lawsuit To Help Put Medical Marijuana On Nebraska Ballot<\/a> appeared first on Marijuana Moment<\/a>.<\/p>\n


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\nRead More: 15 State Attorneys General File Brief Opposing Lawsuit To Help Put Medical Marijuana On Nebraska Ballot<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cWe won\u2019t be intimidated and we will not back down.\u201d By Aaron Sanderford, Nebraska Examiner Attorneys general from 15 conservative-led states filed a brief this week backing Nebraska\u2019s legal fight to save a state constitutional requirement that people petitioning a measure onto the ballot must gather signatures from much ofContinue Reading<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":457,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"false","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[81],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56204"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/457"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=56204"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56204\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":56205,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56204\/revisions\/56205"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=56204"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=56204"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=56204"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}