Home : Drug Policy : Search and Seizure

U.S. v. Goddard - Petition for Rehearing or Rehearing En Banc (09/05/2007)
An ACLU filing challenging the constitutionality of the police tactic known as a "jump out," widely employed against minority residents of high-crime neighborhoods. The ACLU is seeking a rehearing in the case of Melvin Goddard, who was arrested utilizing this aggressive tactic used to detain and search suspects.

County of Santa Cruz v. Gonzales - Order Granting Motion to Dismiss (08/30/2007)
Consistent with the Ninth Circuit’s March 2007 ruling in Raich v. Gonzales, Judge Jeremy Fogel of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, San Jose Division, dismissed outright a number of claims made of behalf of the Wo/Men’s Alliance for Medical Marijuana (WAMM). Importantly, however, two of the issues raised by WAMM and the County and City of Santa Cruz remain alive: (1) the ability of patients to raise a medical necessity defense in the face of federal prosecution, and (2) the claim that the federal government may have violated the Tenth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.

Santa Barbara v. Poet - Final Ruling (07/10/2007)
A ruling by the California Superior Court dismissing the City of Santa Barbara's challenge of a voter enacted initiative that makes marijuana use the lowest law enforcement priority.

Santa Barbara v. Poet - (Anti-SLAPP) Motion to Strike (05/07/2007)
The ACLU's motion to dismiss the City of Santa Barbara's lawsuit against Heather Poet due to the suit's violation of California's ban on strategic lawsuits against public participation (“SLAPP”). Poet is the sponsor of a recently passed ballot initiative that makes marijuana use Santa Barbara's lowest law enforcement priority.

ACLU of Alaska v. State - ACLU Brief to Alaska Supreme Court (05/04/2007)
The ACLU's brief to the Alaska Supreme Court concerning whether the state may enter homes based solely on adults’ private possession of a small amount of marijuana. In May 2006, the Alaska legislature re-enacted a law that would criminalize private, adult marijuana possession – a law that the Alaska Supreme Court struck down in 1975. The American Civil Liberties Union challenged the law, arguing that the state constitution’s privacy provisions protect adults who use and possess marijuana in their homes from police surveillance, searches, arrest and prosecution. On July 10, 2006 a Juneau Superior Court judge struck down the legislature’s attempt to criminalize private, adult marijuana possession. The ACLU is asking the Supreme Court to affirm this lower court ruling.

Santa Cruz v. Gonzales - Supplemental Brief in Support of Opposition to Motion to Dismiss (04/18/2007)
A supplemental brief filed by plaintiffs examining the impact of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals' dismissal of Gonzales v. Raich on this case. Santa Cruz v. Gonzales, which addresses the right of qualified patients to use medical marijuana and the right of states to provide for such use absent federal interference, was on hold pending the outcome of Raich.

ACLU v. Alaska - ACLU Brief in Reply to State's AK Supreme Court Appeal (04/18/2007)
The ACLU's brief to the Alaska Supreme Court asking that the Court affirm a state Superior Court ruling and dismiss the government's appeal. The ruling struck down as unconstitutional a newly enacted law prohibiting all marijuana possession, holding that the privacy protections afforded by the Alaska constitution protect adults who possess marijuana in their homes.

SSDP v. Spellings - ACLU Appeal to U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit (04/16/2007)
ACLU's appeal asking the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit to order the U.S. District Court for the District of South Dakota to consider the legislative history behind enactment of the Aid Elimination Penalty, a provision of the federal Higher Education Act that denies financial aid to any person convicted of a drug offense. The District Court upheld the Penalty as constitutional, but refused to consider significant historical evidence that shows the provision to violate the U.S. Constitution's Double Jeopardy Clause.

In the Matter of Lyle Craker- Opinion and Recommended Ruling (02/12/2007)
The opinion and recommended ruling of DEA Administrative Law Judge Mary Ellen Bittner in support of Professor Lyle Craker's application to the DEA to grow marijuana. Judge Bittner concluded that it is in the public's interest for Craker to be permitted to grow marijuana for use in research into the plant's medical benefits.

San Diego v. CA- Final Ruling (12/06/2006)
A final ruling in favor of medical marijuana patients represented by the ACLU, Drug Policy Alliance and Americans for Safe Access. The ruling strikes down San Diego, San Bernardino and Merced counties' legal challenge to the validity of California's medical marijuana laws, rejecting the counties' contention that state medical marijuana laws are invalid due to the federal prohibition of marijuana.

San Diego v. NORML- Tentative Ruling on Motion for Judgment (11/16/2006)
A tentative ruling in favor of medical marijuana patients represented by the ACLU, Drug Policy Alliance and Americans for Safe Access. The ruling strikes down San Diego, San Bernardino and Merced counties' legal challenge to the validity of California's medical marijuana laws, rejecting the counties' contention that state medical marijuana laws are invalid due to the federal prohibition of marijuana.

San Diego v. NORML- Intervenors' Memo in Reply to Motion for Judgment (11/03/2006)
A motion filed on behalf of medical marijuana patients by the ACLU, Drug Policy Alliance and Americans for Safe Access in San Diego, San Bernardino and Merced counties' legal challenge to the validity of California's medical marijuana laws.

San Diego v. California - Motion for Judgment on Pleadings (09/01/2006)
A motion seeking a ruling on pleadings filed on behalf of medical marijuana patients, caregivers and doctors by the ACLU, Drug Policy Alliance and Americans for Safe Access in San Diego, San Bernardino and Merced counties legal challenge to the validity of California's medical marijuana laws.

ACLU v. Alaska Order on States Motion to Dismiss (07/11/2006)
ACLU v. Alaska Order on States Motion to Dismiss

San Diego, et al. v. California, et al. - Motion to Intervene and Proposed Complaint (07/07/2006)
A motion to intervene and proposed complaint filed by the ACLU, Drug Policy Alliance and Americans for Safe Access in San Diego, San Bernardino and Merced counties legal challenge to the validity of California's medical marijuana laws.

ACLU of Alaska v. State - Motion for Summary Judgment (06/30/2006)
The ACLU of Alaska's motion seeking a ruling striking down as unconstitutional a state law that would criminalize private, adult possession of marijuana in the home.

ACLU of AK v. State - Statement of Disputed Facts (06/30/2006)
A record of the disputed facts at hand in the ACLU's challenge of an Alaska law that would make it illegal for adults to possess small amounts of marijuana in the privacy of their homes.

ACLU of AK v. State - Statement of Undisputed Facts (06/30/2006)
A record of the undisputed facts at hand in the ACLU's challenge of an Alaska law that would make it illegal for adults to possess small amounts of marijuana in the privacy of their homes.

ACLU v. AK - Memo in Support of Motion for TRO and Injunction (06/05/2006)
The ACLU's memorandum in support of motions for a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction blocking the enforcement of a law making adult possession of marijuana in the privacy of the home illegal in Alaska.

ACLU v. AK - Motion for TRO and Injunction (06/05/2006)
The ACLU's motion for a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction blocking the enforcement of a law making adult possession of marijuana in the privacy of the home illegal in Alaska.