A Lancaster County, Nebraska District Court judge on Tuesday dismissed legal challenges against the state’s two medical cannabis petitions, the Nebraska Examiner reports. In the 57-page order Judge Susan Strong said the petition challengers – former State Board of Health member John Kuehn, Nebraska Secretary of State Bob Evnen, and the Nebraska Attorney General’s Office – were “well short” of proving that enough signatures collected for the petitions were invalid.
“For the Legalization Petition, they have shown that 711 signatures have lost their presumption of validity. For the Regulatory Petition, they have shown that 826 signatures have lost their presumption of validity. Because the Plaintiff and Secretary have not rebutted the presumption of validity for a material number of signatures, a second phase of trial is not necessary.” — Strong in the order
In order to prevail, the plaintiffs would have had to show that more than 3,463 signatures on the legalization petition and 3,357 signatures on the regulatory petition were invalid. Both petitions needed to be approved by voters in order to create a functional medical cannabis industry in the state.
In the order, Strong notes that “In a record of this size, it is likely, perhaps inevitable, that the Court has made some mathematical errors” and “it is also possible that the Court missed a few petitions that should lose their presumption of validity under this Court’s reasoning.”
“So it is important to state that this Court’s judgment does not turn on the inclusion or exclusion of a few petitions,” Strong wrote. “In fact, even if the signatures on all the petitions identified in [two exhibits] lost their presumption of validity, the Plaintiff and Secretary would still fall short.”
The ruling on the petitions – which easily met the required threshold of voter support during the 2024 election – may not end the protracted court battle. A spokesperson for the Nebraska Attorney General’s Office, which represented Evnen, told the Examiner that “We appreciate the Court’s time and thoughtful consideration in deciding this matter. We are reviewing the decision and considering next steps.”
Crista Eggers, the statewide campaign manager for Nebraskans for Medical Marijuana, the group behind the campaign, said in a statement to the Examiner that she is pleased with the ruling.
“Many years of hard work have gone into this effort – from volunteers, patients and families across the state,” Eggers said in a statement. “Knowing that another mother will soon have an option for her suffering child makes it all worthwhile.”