LINCOLN, Neb. – Yesterday, 15 attorneys general from Arkansas, Alabama, Alaska, Florida, Idaho, Indiana, Louisiana, Missouri, Montana, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Utah and West Virginia filed an amicus brief opposing a Nebraskans for Medical Marijuana (NMM) and American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Nebraska lawsuit that seeks to strike down Nebraska’s unconstitutional 38-county ballot qualification requirement and allow Nebraskans to vote to legalize medical marijuana. An amicus brief is a legal document that seeks to persuade the court.
Crista Eggers, a sponsor of the medical marijuana ballot initiative and plaintiff in the lawsuit, stated, “Nebraskans are suffering every day and unable to receive the care they need from their physicians, and other states - many of which already have access to this care - have decided to intervene in a lawsuit and attempt to deny medical care to Nebraskans.”
“This is an unprecedented attack by other states to block Nebraskans’ right to have a constitutional ballot initiative process and to stop our efforts to legalize medical marijuana. We won’t be intimidated and we will not back down,” said Nebraska State Senator Adam Morfeld, NMM campaign co-chair.
“No matter what county we live in, our signatures on a petition should carry equal weight. That is what the Constitution says and that is why we brought this lawsuit. Nothing in this new amicus brief offers a compelling argument as to why Nebraskans should continue to be deprived of equal power in our ballot qualification process nor why our petition process standards should be any different than the ‘one person, one vote’ principle at the ballot box. We remain focused on making the best case we can to ensure a constitutional process for all Nebraskans,” said ACLU of Nebraska attorney Jane Seu.
