Florida court deals blow to marijuana ballot initiative
U.S. Supreme Court News
The Florida Supreme Court on Thursday dealt a potentially fatal blow to supporters of a proposed constitutional amendment aimed at legalizing marijuana under certain circumstances.
The justices ruled that the initiative’s ballot summary is “misleading” in part because it does not spell out that recreational marijuana possession and distribution remains a federal crime.
“The point is that a summary should not contain language that is affirmatively misleading and creates a risk that voters will be confused,” the majority justices wrote in a 5-2 ruling.
The ruling came after Attorney General Ashley Moody requested an advisory opinion on whether the marijuana initiative was valid.
A group called Make It Legal Florida had been gathering petition signatures in hopes of placing the initiative on the 2022 ballot. Now, they will have to start all over again.
The group would need more than 891,000 signatures to get the marijuana measure on the 2022 ballot
The proposal would permit Floridians 21 and older to possess up to 2.5 ounces (70 grams) of marijuana for personal use, with some restrictions over where it could be used. The court majority objected to the summary because they said it implies Floridians would be completely free of criminal exposure despite federal law.
The court reasoned that the ballot summary “affirmatively misleads voters into believing that the recreational use of marijuana in Florida will be free of any repercussions, criminal or otherwise.”
Justices Jorge LaBarga and Allen Lawson dissented, with Lawson filing an opinion saying the ballot summary accurately describes what the proposed amendment would do. Lawson said he would have approved it.
Florida voters in 2016 approved a constitutional amendment permitting medical use of marijuana.
Related listings
-
Supreme Court asked to give access to secretive court’s work
U.S. Supreme Court News 04/19/2021Civil liberties groups are asking the Supreme Court to give the public access to opinions of the secretive court that reviews bulk email collection, warrantless internet searches and other government surveillance programs.The groups say in an appeal ...
-
Mississippi marijuana program hinges on initiative arguments
U.S. Supreme Court News 04/13/2021The Mississippi Supreme Court heard arguments Wednesday in a lawsuit that’s trying to block a voter-approved medical marijuana program by arguing that the the issue should not have been on the ballot.Arguments were not about marijuana. Instead,...
-
Appellate court arguments set for Charleston church shooter
U.S. Supreme Court News 03/29/2021Attorneys for the man sentenced to federal death row for the racist slayings of nine members of a Black South Carolina congregation are set to formally argue that his conviction and death sentence should be overturned.Oral arguments have been set for...
New York Adoption, Foster Care Litigation and Family Law
Rosin Steinhagen Mendel is a law firm dedicated to serving our clients in New York City, the surrounding counties in southern New York State, and in New Jersey, in the areas of adoption, foster care litigation, and family law.
We represent our clients in all types of proceedings that include termination of parental rights, permanency hearings, custody hearings, guardianship, administrative proceedings, and adoption. Our goal is to provide each of our clients with the best possible representation in all aspects of their cases, and clients appreciate our careful analysis of individual cases, through preparation and attention to detail. For over 35 years, our attorneys have represented adoptive parents, birth parents, foster parents, children, foster care agencies, and adoption agencies. We represent our clients in all types of proceedings that include termination of parental rights, permanency hearings, custody hearings, guardianship, administrative proceedings, and adoption.
Our goal for our lawyers is to provide each of our clients with the best possible representation in all aspects of their cases, and clients appreciate our careful analysis of individual cases, through our preparation and attention to detail.