State Courts

A civil lawsuit filed yesterday against the city of Columbia and police officers claims a family’s constitutional rights were violated in a February SWAT raid at their home. The suit specifically cites violations of the Fourth Amendment, which protects against unreasonable searches and seizures, and the 14th Amendment, a citizens’ rights measure ratified after the Civil War.

The Ann Arbor Chronicle is suing the city of Ann Arbor, claiming City Council members violated the state's Open Meetings Act by engaging in "secret discussions" during which they formulated plans for a moratorium on medical marijuana dispensaries. In the lawsuit filed in Washtenaw County Circuit Court on Friday, the Chronicle says council members held a closed session meeting on July 19 and broke the law by discussing and possibly giving a directive to the city attorney regarding medical marijuana policy.

A Michigan Court of Appeals judge urged lawmakers to clarify the state's medical marijuana law, saying the "inartfully drafted" measure has resulted in confusion and arrests. The judge said the law is so confusing that users "who proceed without due caution" could "lose both their property and their liberty."

A California appeals court has upheld a temporary ban on the Shasta County school district’s policy of drug testing students in extracurricular activities as it may violate the state Constitution.

The operators asked the LA's City Council on yesterday to allow more dispensaries, saying many medical marijuana distributors will simply operate illegally.

Arkansas' judicial officials are questioning whether Washington-Madison County Drug Court, a popular local television program, should be aired. An opinion from the Arkansas Supreme Court Judicial Ethics Advisory Committee, issued Thursday, appears to quash any thought of taking any version of the show national and questions whether it should continue to be broadcast locally. The committee members, two retired judges and a law professor, issued a scathing opinion saying they had concerns with any broadcast of drug court proceedings.

A Detroit-area judge is allowing some defendants arrested in a series of raids to keep using state-approved medical marijuana while out on bond.

Michigan’s medical marijuana law had its first dramatic day in an Oakland County court as a dozen people arrested in a medical marijuana raid on August 25 came before a judge for preliminary exams.