The Argus Leader reports…
Attorney General Jason Ravnsborg’s office will not participate in an appeal of a judge’s ruling that South Dakota’s legal marijuana amendment violated the state constitution, the Argus Leader has confirmed.
Circuit Court Judge Christina Klinger ruled this week in Hughes County that Amendment A, passed by voters in November, violated the state constitution because it ran afoul of a provision that amendments deal with only one subject. She further argued that Amendment A was not an amendment, but a revision to the constitution and thus violated procedural rules for its implementation.
In a hearing before Klinger last month, Assistant Attorney General Grant Flynn tried to persuade Klinger that Amendment A did not violate the one-subject rule and that it was properly voted on as an amendment.
The Attorney General’s Office is obligated to defend state laws when they are challenged in court. But in a statement from Ranvsborg spokesman Timothy Bormann, Ravnsborg has concluded the office fulfilled its obligation and that it does not have to participate in an appeal to the South Dakota Supreme Court.
