cannabisnews.com: Quit Blowing Smoke





Quit Blowing Smoke
Posted by CN Staff on May 01, 2003 at 17:40:56 PT
By Andrew Kiraly 
Source: Las Vegas Mercury 
Let's get the obligatory pot joke out of the way: The Marijuana Policy Project folks sure aren't being mellow about this one. The Washington-based group, big backers of November's failed Question 9 initiative in Nevada, are still fuming over what they characterize as arrogant state-stomping by federal drug czar John Walters. Earlier this year the group filed a complaint with Secretary of State Dean Heller saying that Walters should have filed three reports listing his contribution and expenditures for the anti-Question 9 campaign. The price for not complying: $5,000 for each failure. 
Few dispute that Walters, a federal official, campaigned vigorously against the Question 9 initiative. The question is whether Walters is legally bound to file a campaign finance report, which would reveal who bankrolled his anti-Q9 stumping. A dust-up has risen among the Nevada attorney general's office, the Marijuana Policy Project and the drug czar's office. The MPP--seemingly spoiling for a publicity-generating battle with the feds--wants the AG's office office to press the feds to comply with state law. Walters has balked, saying he's immune as a federal official. Attorney General Brian Sandoval's office, while recently lambasting Walters for meddling in state affairs, reluctantly has concurred. Dusting off its Supreme Court casebooks, the MPP is now engaged in a sort of lawbook-slinging wrangle with the AG's office--in hope of convincing it to go after Walters with a bit more gusto. It began last week when Sandoval sent an opinion to the secretary of state's office, chastising Walters for "excessive" and "disturbing" interference in the state's marijuana initiative campaign. In the same breath, Sandoval--citing an 1890 Supreme Court case called "In re Neagle"--said it was unlikely, however, that Walters could be busted for breaking state election laws. Wrong answer, say MPP legal hounds. They're questioning the AG's choice of precedent and urging the office to take a second crack at that stack of law books. As the MPPers tell it, Sandoval and Co. should've looked further down the road and used a case from 1971, Perez vs. Campbell, which basically says that state law applies to federal employees as long as it doesn't interfere with their purpose. "If the cases they cited were the only cases that existed, I'd maybe say they're right," says Steve Fox, director of government relations for the MPP. "But they ignored an entire line of cases more directly on point. This is like having the secretary of state asking the attorney general for an opinion on abortion, and the AG not talking about Roe vs. Wade. It's nonsensical." The AG's office says it's looked at the cases pointed out by the MPP, but it's sticking to its story. "Just because we've cited a case with some age on it doesn't mean it's not valid law," says Tom Sargent, spokesman for the AG's office. But isn't that kind of, well, wimpy? Considering Nevada's history of getting stomped on by the federal government (Exhibit A: Yucca Mountain), MPP's Fox says this is a defining moment for Nevada to seize. "This is a chance for the state to hold the federal government accountable for walking all over them," says Fox. "Walters sent a dismissive letter in response to the state's request for information. The AG said, 'Fine.'" But Sargent says it's sound legal grounds, not yellowness, that led to the decision. "This is the bottom line: We're not weak-kneed at this office. We fight in many venues during the course of the year for state's rights, Yucca Mountain being the most obvious. In this case, the drug czar was acting in the scope of his duties, and according to our legal opinion, he enjoys a certain amount of immunity with regard to Nevada election law." But not immunity from some tenacious MPPers: Fox says the group may take Walters to court to force him to file campaign finance reports.Note: Pot group urges Nevada's attorney general to get some guts.Source: Las Vegas Mercury (NV)Author: Andrew Kiraly Published: Thursday, May 01, 2003Copyright: 2003 Las Vegas MercuryWebsite: http://www.lasvegasmercury.com/Contact: gschumacher lasvegasmercury.comRelated Articles & Web Site:Marijuana Policy Projecthttp://www.mpp.org/Attorney General Says Federal Drug Czar Immune http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread16060.shtmlDrug Czar is Cleared of Campaign Violationhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread16049.shtmlFederal Drug Czar Won't Face Prosecutionhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread16045.shtml
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