Newsgroups: alt.drugs,talk,politics.drugs
From: [j s c s p] at [acad3.alaska.edu] (Chris Star Parker)
Subject: Re: JUNEAU EMPIRE [The Voice of Alaska's Capital City]
Date: Mon, 29 Nov 1993 08:40:00 GMT

Juneau Empire, Wednesday November 17, 1993

Judge rejects anti-marijuana vote

The Associated Press
ANCHORAGE - A state judge in Ketchican has rejected results of an 1990 initiave
that declated marijuana illegal in Alaska.

Superior Court Judge Michael Thompson said voters lack authority to alter the
state constitution by adding a new law. Thompson ruled late last month in favor
of a Klawock logger accused of cocaine and marijuana possession after a search
of his home.

An attorney following the case said the ruling may have little effect outside
the First Judicial District, which includes Juneau, unless it is upheld by a
higher court.

A lawyer for defendant Patrick McNeil challenged the arrest claiming privacy
protections in the state constitution and citing the Alaska Supreme Court's
unanimous decision in 1975 in the Ravin case.

The courts said adults have a right to privacy under the state constitution
that outweighs the state's interest in banning marijuana through intrusive
police searches. The decision cleared the way for a state law that permitted
adults to possess up to 4 ounces of marijuana in the home for personal use.
[and up to .25 oz could be legally carried on person, but only legally used 
in privacy of yer docile, if I remember correctly -jscsp]

But after the 1990 measure, which passed 54 percent to 46 percent, a new law
took effect. In March 1991, possession of small amounts of pot became a 
misdemeanor punishable by 90 days in jail and a $1,000 fine.

Thompson, however, rejected the results of the 1990 vote.

"In other words, the voters cannot change the constitution simply by carrying a
polls on a given day," the judge said.

Don Clocksin, a director of the Alaska Civil Liberties Union, praised
Thompson's ruling, calling it "pretty incredible."

"The majority does not have the right to deprive individuals of their civil
liberties," Clocksin said.

Advocates who favored making possession illegal said the ruling was a step
backward. Attorney General Charlie Cole said Tuesday the Department of Law
planned to review the decision to determine if an appeal was warranted. Cole,
who said he had not seen the opinion, said he was not sure how it could affect
law enforcement.

Clocksin said judges in other districts may give the ruling serious
consideration but are not bound by it unless it is affirmed by a higher court,
such as the state Court of Appeals.

Thompson's summary said the case began when a Klawock police officer looked
through a glass door at McNeil's home, saw what he believed to be marijuana and
obtained a search warrant.

A search disclosed marijuana totalling less than one one-hundredth of an ounce.
James Wendt, McNeil's lawyer, said cocaine "residue in a vial" was also found.