cannabisnews.com: Chief Justice Enters Debate Over Drug Czar





Chief Justice Enters Debate Over Drug Czar
Posted by CN Staff on May 10, 2004 at 19:36:53 PT
By Cy Ryan, Sun Capital Bureau 
Source: Las Vegas Sun 
Carson City -- State Supreme Court Chief Justice Miriam Shearing has ordered Secretary of State Dean Heller to explain why he has not required the federal drug czar to file campaign expense reports when he has appeared in Nevada to oppose the marijuana initiative.Heller now has 30 days to file a response to a lawsuit filed by the Marijuana Policy Project, which is pushing for John Walters, director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, to file the reports. They are required by others who campaign for and against an initiative.
In her order Friday, Shearing said the Marijuana Policy Project, based in Washington D.C., has "set forth issues of arguable merit" and the group has no plain or speedy remedy under the law.Heller's office said it has followed state Attorney General Brian Sandoval's advice, which said Walters was exempt from filing the campaign documents because he was in Nevada as part of his federal duties.Walters campaigned against an initiative petition in the 2002 election that sought to legalize possession of small amounts of marijuana. It was defeated.The marijuana initiative was revived this year, and Walters showed up in Las Vegas on March 11 to criticize the new effort.The Marijuana Project had sought and failed to get Walters to submit his campaign expenses in 2002. The group sued this year to force the disclosure.Bruce Mirken, director of communications for the group, said the organization was pleased that the issue will now be addressed. "We're looking forward to this procedure," he said.A federal attorney for Walters said the director was exempt from Nevada law. The state attorney general's office said Walters was immune from filing the report because he was acting within the scope of his duties when he appeared in Las Vegas and Reno in 2002.The suit said the Supreme Court should correct the errors in the legal interpretation of the law.A new initiative petition being circulated would amend the Nevada Constitution to allow use by adults of one ounce of marijuana. It must gain the signatures of 51,234 signatures of Nevada voters by June 15 to be placed on the November ballot. It is also required the petition have 10 percent of the signatures of the voters in 13 of the 17 counties.The organization has expressed confidence it will qualify the issue for the ballot.Complete Title: Chief Justice Enters Debate Over Drug Czar's Anti-Pot VisitSource: Las Vegas Sun (NV)Author:  Cy Ryan, Sun Capital Bureau Published: May 10, 2004Copyright: 2004 Las Vegas Sun Inc.Contact: letters lasvegassun.comWebsite: http://www.lasvegassun.com/Related Articles & Web Sites:Marijuana Policy Projecthttp://www.mpp.org/Regulate Marijuanahttp://www.regulatemarijuana.org/Order Favors Group Seeking Expense Report http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread18819.shtmlMPP Wants Expense Report from Drug Czarhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread18769.shtmlFederal Drug Czar Rips Pot Petitionhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread18486.shtml
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Comment #3 posted by fearfull on May 11, 2004 at 10:39:27 PT
more thoughts
this reminds me of foriegn diplomats shirking their way out of traffic violations because of "Diplomatic Immunity". They are not above the law and neither is Mr. Walters. 
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Comment #2 posted by fearfull on May 11, 2004 at 06:51:14 PT
I can't believe it...
""A federal attorney for Walters said the director was exempt from Nevada law.""Now That's Dangerous Thinking! Let's just say that in Nevada it is illegal to smoke bacon. But Walters can march in from Warshington and smoke all the bacon he wants because he is exempt from Nevada law. Is he also exempt from Florida law, or Wisconsin law? And why so?!
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Comment #1 posted by kaptinemo on May 11, 2004 at 04:15:37 PT:
I can just hear them in "War"-shington
"Damn that pesky Hatch Act! That's only for little people!"Not so, gents, not so. And this matter is *finally* getting the notice it deserves, thanks in part to those who kept bringing up the matter here, and to (as Al Giordano calls them) authentic journalists like Dan Forbes, who know how important an issue this is. This matter will not go away. It will get bigger and bigger as the issue of faux 'Federalism' (returning traditional powers of the States to govern themselves after decades of usurpation by Feds) runs up against the reality of (highly selective) Fed interference. Game over Johnny Pee: sooner or later this bald-faced interference in State politics had to be exposed, and you're unlucky enough to have it happen on your watch. It started with Barry, but he was (just) smart enough to get out while the getting was good. Let's see if you have as much horse-sense.
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