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Ferre
Cannabis Sacrament Minister.
Joined: 14 Apr 2003
Posts: 7295
Location: Amsterdam
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 Posted: Sun Aug 29, 2004 12:00 pm Post subject: Alaska: Privacy wins in pot ruling. |
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| Quote: |
Source: Anchorage Daily News (AK)
Copyright: 2004 The Associated Press
Author: Matt Volz, The Associated Press
Cited: the opinion: http://www.state.ak.us/courts/ops/ap-1949.pdf
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/states/ak/ (Alaska)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/pot.htm (Cannabis)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/decrim.htm (Decrim/Legalization)
PRIVACY WINS IN POT RULING
Opinion: Possession of Less Than 4 Ounces Doesn't Justify Search.
The Alaska Court of Appeals ruled Friday that police cannot execute a
search warrant in a person's home for possession of less than 4 ounces of
marijuana.
Attorney General Gregg Renkes says he will appeal the ruling to the state
Supreme Court and he is "fearful that this will shut down effective
investigation of marijuana growing cases."
The Appeals Court ruled in the case of Leo Richardson Crocker Jr., who was
charged with controlled substance misconduct after police, acting on a tip,
searched his Anchor Point home and found marijuana and growing equipment.
A lower court ruled the search warrant that led to the arrest should never
have been issued and suppressed the evidence against Crocker. The Appeals
Court agreed.
The opinion is the latest decision that has carved out protections for
possessing marijuana in an Alaska home. The state Supreme Court in 1975
ruled that an adult's rights to limited marijuana possession was protected
under the state constitution's privacy provisions. Last year the Appeals
Court defined that limit as 4 ounces.
The Appeals Court also struck down a 1990 voter initiative that
criminalized possession of any amount of marijuana.
To execute a search warrant, police must have reason to believe the amount
of marijuana exceeds 4 ounces or is being used in connection with a crime,
the Appeals Court said Friday.
Renkes said the ruling hamstrings police efforts to break up marijuana growers.
"It will be rare that there will be someone who can provide eyewitness
information to the amount of marijuana in a growing operation," Renkes
said. "At this point the only way to get a search warrant is for someone to
testify to the size of the crop."
Renkes said he plans to ask the U.S. Attorney's Office to be more
aggressive in busting marijuana growers, as the court's ruling does not
affect federal cases.
State prosecutors argued that the earlier decisions did not legalize
marijuana possession in the home. Rather, the decisions created a defense
that people can use when they are charged with possession.
Marijuana possession is a criminal offense and a warrant can be issued if
there is probable cause to believe there is any marijuana in the home,
prosecutors argued.
The court dismissed that argument, saying the earlier decisions defined a
constitutional limitation to the government's ability to prohibit marijuana
possession.
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RogerChristie
Cannabis Sacrament Minister.
Joined: 16 Feb 2004
Posts: 1098
Location: Hilo, Kingdom of Hawai'i
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| Posted: Wed Sep 01, 2004 6:36 pm Post subject: This is terrific news! |
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Hello out there,
This is super! Occassionally a court has the will to uphold the spirit of freedom that was supposed to be so precious. Thanks to the justices here.
This - should - also be big news here in Hawai'i because we copied the Alaska Privacy provision, but so far I have seen zero of it reported. Alaska passed their right to privacy in 1975 and we copied it in 1979, specifically for the reason of marijuana use in the home. To prove that point I have the transcript of the Constitutional Convention where it was raised, debated and passed.
Representative Helene Hale of Puna brought up the right to privacy and promoted it. Bless her! By the way, she is 84 years old and running for office AGAIN right now! Her motto is "Give 'em Hale!" :-} She's a living treasure and shows what good one person can do in elected office. Amazing.
All respect,
Roger |
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