A South Dakota judge ruled on Monday that a constitutional amendment passed by voters that would legalize marijuana for recreational use was in itself unconstitutional, starting a legal fight that puts the Gov. Kristi Noem
Kristi Lynn NoemThe Hill’s Morning Report – Presented by Facebook – Biden, Republican Party senators start talking; Democrats advance On track: Republican party divided over Idaho party’s growing undemocratic trend advances constitutional ban on legalizing marijuana in the state MORE (R) against its own constituents.
Circumscription Court Judge Christina Klinger, appointed by Noem in Pierre, decided that Amendment A violated a rule that electoral measures cover only one issue and that it does not comply with the rules governing how the constitution of the state is amended.
South Dakota voters passed Amendment A, which legalized recreational marijuana, by a 54% to 46% margin in November. A separate vote to legalize marijuana for medical purposes was passed with almost 70% support.
South Dakotans for Better Marijuana Laws, the group that supported the amendment, promised to appeal the court’s decision on Monday.
“We disagree with the decision and are preparing our appeal to the South Dakota Supreme Court,” the group said in a statement.
The office of Attorney General Jason Ravnsborg (R), who is responsible for defending state laws, said on Tuesday that it is still reviewing the judge’s decision. Ravnsborg’s lawyers decided to reject the challenge earlier this year.
Noem, a Republican governor in her first term who was closely allied with the former President Trump
Donald TrumpDOJ will resign the majority of U.S. prosecutors appointed by Trump: report Trump’s lawyer withdraws request not to hold impeachment trial on Saturday Kinzinger on opinion calls to Republican Party senators to convict Trump on impeachment trial, has focused on opposing the amendment, both during the campaign and after voters gave their approval to the measure. The lawsuit questioning the validity of the amendment was filed by the head of the state Highway Police, who sued at Noem’s request, and by the Pennington County Sheriff.
Noem authorized the state to pay court costs incurred by Highway Patrol Superintendent Rick Miller. She issued an executive order last month that explicitly gave Miller the legitimacy to sue.
If Amendment A goes into effect in July, South Dakota would be the 15th state to legalize marijuana for recreational use and the 13th state in which voters themselves passed an electoral measure to make marijuana legal.