The office of Nebraska Attorney General Mike Hilgers (R) appears to be setting up an appeal after amending the cross-claims in a recent lawsuit against two successful medical cannabis ballot initiatives to include new allegations of fraud and widespread malfeasance, the Nebraska Examiner reports.
The initiatives together sought to enact sweeping medical cannabis reforms and voters in the state easily passed both measures — one to legalize access to medical cannabis by qualified patients, and the other to establish a regulated medical cannabis marketplace.
The suit, filed on behalf of Secretary of State Bob Evnen, was already dismissed last week by Lancaster County District Judge Susan Strong but AG Hilgers told the Examiner his office was using court rules that allow the state to amend the cross-claims in a case, even after a verdict or case dismissal, to match evidence presented at trial.
“It’s just a post-trial motion. We want to make sure our case is fully prepared for an appeal.” — Hilgers, via the Nebraska Examiner
The lawsuit seeks to overturn the voter-approved initiatives over suspicions that the campaign’s signature-gathering process had been conducted illegally.
During court last week, Judge Strong noted that the plaintiffs’ accusations would only invalidate several hundreds of the medical cannabis petitions’ signatures, falling “well short” of the thousands of signatures that would need to be invalidated for the initiatives themselves to become suspect.
“The petitions fulfill all constitutional and statutory requirements and are thus, legally sufficient under Nebraska law,” Strong wrote in the ruling last week.
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