On appeal, Idaho judge guts twice-passed Hailey marijuana initiatives

(Idaho Mountain Express) A judge’s ruling this week took the teeth out of two controversial marijuana initiatives that were approved by Hailey voters, but left intact a requirement that the city advocate for reform of marijuana and industrial hemp laws.

Blaine County 5th District Court Judge Robert J. Elgee, in a decision filed Tuesday, voided portions of the initiatives that would have legalized medical marijuana use in the city and would have made enforcement of marijuana laws the lowest priority for Hailey police. The judge also voided language in the initiatives that would have required individual city officials to advocate for marijuana reform.

However, provisions of the initiatives that require the city as an entity to advocate for marijuana reform were left intact, as were provisions that require the city to establish community committees regarding marijuana and hemp issues.

Councilman Keirn said he’s not sure how the city is going to implement remaining provisions of the initiatives that require Hailey to advocate for reform of marijuana laws and to establish community committees.

“A city as an entity has no voice unless we give it one.” Keirn said. “If we don’t have to support it as individuals, I don’t see how we can do it as a city. We’ll probably leave it up to the city attorney. We can pass that one back and forth for a while.”

An interesting thing to note when reading the quotes in this story:

Hailey Police Chief Gunter: “If I want to advocate something…” and “I’m also pleased…”

City Councilman Don Keirn: “If we don’t have to support it as individuals…”

Mayor Rick Davis: “I got what I wanted…”

Makes you almost wonder if there are more than three people living in Hailey, Idaho, doesn’t it?  The people living in this alleged democracy voted for four different pro-marijuana initiatives and passed three of them, twice, with votes of 53%, 53%, 51% in the first election and 58%, 57%, 54% in the second a year later.

But wait, it gets more interesting.  The Chief, the Councilman, and the Mayor were all parties in the lawsuit to overturn these initiatives.  Springing to the defense of these initiatives was the City Attorney, Ned Williamson, who was quite vocally opposed to the initiatives before they passed.  I’m sure he came up with the most solid defense arguments he could possibly make and in no way let his strong opposition to these initiatives color his enthusiam and drive to defend them.  At least after he lost the case, Williamson made a token reference to the will of the people whose case he just lost:

“The people spoke when they voted for this, but just like with the Legislature, laws have to be subjected to legal scrutiny,” he said.

Or to put it another way, the people said marijuana shouldn’t be illegal, but it is, so tough luck.