cannabisnews.com: Fed Judge Refuses To Halt Pot Raids In Santa Cruz 





Fed Judge Refuses To Halt Pot Raids In Santa Cruz 
Posted by CN Staff on August 28, 2003 at 18:33:26 PT
Breaking News
Source: Bay City News 
San Jose, Calif. -- A federal judge Thursday denied the city and county of Santa Cruz's request for an injunction preventing federal authorities from conducting any local raids on medical marijuana patients and providers. U.S. District Court Judge Jeremy Fogel ruled that fedral drug laws trump California's Proposition 215, the 1996 measure passed by voters allowing for medical marijuana usage. 
"Although Plaintiffs have made a significant showing of irreparable injury, the Court... has no alternative but to conclude that under existing law they cannot succeed on the merits of their claims," Fogel said in his 29-page opinion. Fogel said that as a district court judge it was not his place to overturn federal policy. "However, it is not the role of federal courts, and in particular federal district courts, to impose their own judgments even in the most sympathetic circumstances, especially when the legislative and executive branches of the federal government repeatedly have reaffirmed the policy at issue," Fogel said. The judge took pains to make clear that he believed the patients in question would likely have their pain alleviated by marijuana. "The Court is acutely mindful of the suffering of the Patient-Plaintiffs and of the evidence that medical marijuana has helped to alleviate that suffering," Fogel said. "As it commented at oral argument, the Court finds the declarations of the Patient-Plaintiffs deeply moving." Gerald Uelmen, the noted constitutional lawyer and member of the famed O.J. Simpson "Legal Dream Team" who argued for Santa Cruz was not immediately available for comment on the ruling. Source: Bay City News (CA)Published: August 28, 2003Copyright: 2003 Bay City News Contact: bcn pacbell.net Website: http://www.baycitynews.com/ Related Articles & Web Site:WAMMhttp://www.wamm.org/Medical Pot Gets Its Day in Courthttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread16978.shtmlJudge Seeks Help From Pot Advocates http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread16779.shtmlProponents Say DEA Raid on Pot Farm was Illegalhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread16774.shtml 
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