South Dakota – The Fight Back Against The Fight Back

Legal team to fight for ballot measure that legalized marijuana in South Dakota against some very determined authorities who appear to be in Giuliani territory

 

Part of the Lawyer team representing the cops bringing the case to try and stop  the democratically voted for successful campaign. are McCaulley/Redstone who have been awarded $403,375 in contracts to provide legal services and legislative consulting to the governor’s office (Gov Noem is an ardent anti-cannabis politician) since Dec 31, 2019, according to public records. McCaulley also a lobbyist for the office and has worked with Noem since 2010, according to a March story from South Dakota News Watch.
“In South Dakota, we respect our Constitution,” Noem said. “I look forward to the court addressing the serious constitutional concerns laid out in this lawsuit.”

 

But ………we really love this piece of information

 

The plaintiffs summoned Attorney General Jason Ravnsborg, who is currently being investigated after he crashed into and killed a man near Highmore in September.

 

Ravnsborg signed a document Monday showing that he received the lawsuit, court records show. The Attorney General’s Office has not yet decided whether Ravnsborg or someone else will handle the case, said spokesman Tim Bormann.

The Rapid City Jnl reports…

The group that successfully campaigned to legalize medical and recreational marijuana in South Dakota through the ballot box will intervene in a lawsuit filed by law enforcement that challenges the constitutionality of the recreational amendment.

“We are prepared to defend Amendment A against the lawsuit filed by Pennington County Sheriff Kevin Thom and Superintendent of the South Dakota Highway Patrol Colonel Rick Miller,” South Dakotans for Better Marijuana Laws wrote in a news release. “Amendment A was carefully drafted, fully vetted, and approved by a strong majority of South Dakota voters this year.”

Thom and Miller “are trying to invalidate Amendment A and overturn the will of the voters on the basis of two incorrect legal theories,” the release says.

Kevin Thom
Kevin Thom
Hemp South Dakota (copy) (copy)
Highway Patrol Superintendent Rick Miller shows lawmakers evidence bags of hemp and marijuana during a February 2019 committee hearing for a bill to legalize industrial hemp. The panel approved the measure despite opposition from Gov. Kristi Noem.

 

The pair filed a lawsuit last Friday in Hughes County that asks a judge to void the recreational marijuana amendment that was approved by 54% of voters statewide and 59% in Pennington County.

Amendment A violates the South Dakota Constitution because it doesn’t follow the “one-subject rule” and because it’s actually a revision, not an amendment, the lawsuit argues.

The pro-marijuana group says that’s not true and plans to intervene in the case. A legal intervention is when a third-party player who has a stake in the outcome of a lawsuit is allowed to file motions and make arguments in court.

“Anyone who reads Amendment A can see that every word relates to the cannabis plant,” the group said.  “Furthermore, Amendment A follows the interpretation of the single-subject rule used by the legislature.”

The revision vs. amendment argument is a “manufactured distinction” that is “unsupported in the law and is utterly insufficient as a basis for overturning a constitutional amendment approved by voters,” the release says.

The group makes a third argument against the lawsuit: “This lawsuit was filed incorrectly under South Dakota law as a ‘contest’ to an election. However, the complaint has nothing to do with the manner in which the election was conducted and only relates to the text of Amendment A.”

An election contest is “a legal proceeding, other than a recount, instituted to challenge the determination of any election,” according to SDCL 12-22-1.

 

High-profile players

Thom and Miller are represented by Robert Morris from Belle Fourche and three attorneys from the Redstone Law Firm in Sioux Falls: Matt McCaulley, Lisa Prostrollo and Christopher Sommers. None of the lawyers responded to messages from the Journal.

 

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Matt MacCaulley.

 

McCaulley/Redstone has been awarded $403,375 in contracts to provide legal services and legislative consulting to the governor’s office since Dec 31, 2019, according to public records. McCaulley also a lobbyist for the office and has worked with Noem since 2010, according to a March story from South Dakota News Watch.

 

112620-nws-marijuana3
Redstone Law Firm contracts with the governor’s office are shown at www.open.sd.gov.

 

Gov. Kristi Noem — who is opposed to recreational and medical marijuana — approved state funds for Miller’s legal fees, according to her spokesman Ian Fury. She didn’t ask Miller and Thom to file the lawsuit, Fury said.

“In South Dakota, we respect our Constitution,” Noem said. “I look forward to the court addressing the serious constitutional concerns laid out in this lawsuit.”

No taxpayer dollars are being used for Thom’s legal fees, said Helene Duhamel, spokeswoman for the sheriff’s office and a state senator appointed by Noem. Duhamel, who opposed Amendment A and medical marijuana, declined to say if Thom or a third party is paying the bills.

“No tax dollars is the answer,” she said.

Legislative Outlook Program (copy)
Helene Duhamel speaks in December 2019 at the Pennington County Republican Women’s 2020 legislative outlook program.

 

The plaintiffs summoned Attorney General Jason Ravnsborg, who is currently being investigated after he crashed into and killed a man near Highmore in September.

Ravnsborg signed a document Monday showing that he received the lawsuit, court records show. The Attorney General’s Office has not yet decided whether Ravnsborg or someone else will handle the case, said spokesman Tim Bormann.

 

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Attorney General Jason Ravnsborg

 

South Dakotans for Better Marijuana Laws, which is a ballot question political committee, will be represented by three lawyers from the Robins Kaplan law firm, according to Brendan Johnson, a former U.S. Attorney for South Dakota and sponsor of Amendment A. Johnson is teaming up with Timothy Billion and Eric Magnuson, former chief justice of the Minnesota Supreme Court.

Judge Christina Klinger, who was appointed by Noem, was assigned to the case, court records show.

Ravnsborg or his office have 10 days to reply to the lawsuit, his summons says. No court dates have been scheduled.

 

How we got here

The first step of getting ballot questions — initiated measures or constitutional amendments — on the ballot is to submit the law or amendment to the director of the Legislative Resource Council, according to a guide from the Secretary of State’s Office. The director than provides the sponsor with comments to help the sponsor minimize legal conflicts and ensure its effectiveness.

 

SOS guide

 

Jason Hancock, the LRC director at the time Johnson submitted the amendment, wrote in his May 2019 response that Johnson should change his amendment to an initiated measure, KELO reported Saturday.

 

Source: https://rapidcityjournal.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/legal-team-to-fight-for-ballot-measure-that-legalized-marijuana-in-south-dakota/article_0c640d2b-db40-5ffa-a5e2-6c3a7c69c2c0.html

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