After eight years, the lawsuit based on the infamous 2002 DEA raid on WAMM’s property has come to a close.
The Wo/Men’s Alliance for Medical Marijuana finally got closure this morning on the eight-year-old lawsuit it filed against the federal government in 2002. Closure, but not much else. “It’s a draw. They didn’t win, we didn’t win,” said WAMM co-founder Michael Corral, who’d brought his mother to the hearing in Judge Jeremy Fogel’s U.S. District Courtroom in downtown San Jose. “This has gone on so long, it was time for it to end.”
After a very brief hearing, with the federal government’s attorney joining by phone, Judge Fogel ordered the case be “dismissed without prejudice.” The terms of the settlement say, in essence, that the federal government will no longer threaten WAMM’s operations so long as they are in accordance with local and state laws, and that should the government break that promise, the lawsuit may pick up where it left off in federal court.
“This isn’t a huge personal victory for Michael and I,” said WAMM co-founder Valerie Corral afterward. “But we’ve done two things: we’ve helped take medical marijuana mainstream, and we’ve kept the case open. If they break their promise—“
“We can spank them,” interrupted Michael, smiling wryly.
The lawsuit was filed after the infamous raid by Drug Enforcement Administration officers on the WAMM medical marijuana garden and the Corrals’ home in 2002. The Corrals were arrested, though never charged, and 167 marijuana plants were confiscated and presumably destroyed. The lawsuit alleged that the federal government undermined the authority of local and state government laws, like that authorized by the passage of Prop. 215, when it decided to raid WAMM. Eventually both the city and county of Santa Cruz joined the lawsuit.
While the Bush administration fought to have the lawsuit thrown out, the entrance of the Obama administration and its new Attorney General Eric Holder onto the scene dramatically revised federal policy on state medical marijuana laws. A memorandum issued to all U.S. attorneys in 2009 stated: “As a general matter, [do] not focus federal resources in your States on individuals whose actions are in clear and unambiguous compliance with existing state laws providing for the medical use of marijuana.” According to a spokesman for the U.S. Department of Justice and the American Civil Liberties Union attorney representing WAMM, Allen Hopper, this memorandum set the stage for the settlement. “It was pretty clear to everyone, including the judge, that the change in policy meant it was time to talk about settling the case,” he says.
Attorney Ben Rice, who’s represented WAMM and the city and county from the start, characterized the decision as “a huge win for WAMM and for Santa Cruz.”
“But,” he continued. “I’ll never forget what they did to WAMM and its members. I can forgive but I’ll never forget.”
