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Important Documents The Complaint WAMM Order (.pdf) Motion for Preliminary Injunction Judicial Notice Request WAMM Protocols and Guidelines |
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Meet the Plaintiffs Their Declarations
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Supportive Pleadings
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Media
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1 114. The Tenth Amendment limits the powers of the federal government to
2 those specifically enumerated in the Constitution, reserving all other powers to the states or to
3 the people. Under their police power, states are primarily responsible for regulating the health
4 and safety of their citizens. California voters and legislators expressed their desire to legalize the
5 use of medical marijuana by enacting the Compassionate Use Act of 1996.
6 115. DEA seizure of medical marijuana violates the Tenth Amendment by
7 preventing the State of California from implementing a duly enacted statute, the Compassionate
8 Use Act of 1996. Such seizures commandeer the police power of the State of California and its
9 political subdivisions, including the County of Santa Cruz, over the health and safety of
10 California citizens.
11 116. Pursuant to its authority over local affairs under the California
12 Constitution, the County of Santa Cruz adopted the Santa Cruz County Medical Marijuana
13 Ordinance, one of the purposes of which is to "direct the elected officials of Santa Cruz County
14 to take whatever actions may be within their power to support the availability of
15 cannabis/marijuana for medical use." The federal government's disruption of lawful medical
16 marijuana activities prevents the County of Santa Cruz, a political subdivision of the State of
17 California, from implementing its medical marijuana ordinance.
18 117. To ensure effective implementation of the Compassionate Use Act,
19 plaintiff City of Santa Cruz enacted its Personal Medical Marijuana Use Ordinance in 2000.
20 Pursuant to the City Ordinance, the Santa Cruz City Council adopted a resolution deputizing
21 WAMM, plaintiff Valerie Corral, and her husband and primary caregiver Michael Corral to
22 function as medical marijuana providers authorized to assist the City in implementing the City
23 Ordinance and the Compassionate Use Act. Thus, the federal government's disruption of
24 WAMM's lawful and officially sanctioned activities prevents the City of Santa Cruz and the
25 State of California from implementing the duly enacted Compassionate Use Act.
26 118. The DEA raid also commandeered the State of California's executive
27 functions. The Plaintiffs are informed and believe that the DEA task force that conducted the
28 raid included officers of the San Jose Police Department and the Santa Clara County Sheriff's
COMPLAINT FOR PRELIMINARY AND PERMANENT INJUNCTIVE
RELIEF,
DECLARATORY RELIEF, AND DAMAGES
28
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1 Department. The Tenth Amendment forbids the federal government to compel state officers to
2 execute federal laws.
3 119. The Plaintiffs desire a judicial declaration that seizure of the WAMM
4 patients' medical marijuana constitutes federal commandeering of the police power and
5 executive functions of the State of California and its political subdivisions, in violation of the
6 Tenth Amendment. Such a declaration is necessary and appropriate at this time so that the
7 Plaintiffs may implement and enjoy the protections of the duly enacted Compassionate Use Act
8 of 1996 free from federal intrusion. Therefore, under 28 U.S.C. § 2201, the Plaintiffs are entitled
9 to a judicial declaration of their Tenth Amendment rights.
10 120. The Plaintiffs also desire injunctive relief protecting them from future
11 federal interference with California's implementation of the Compassionate Use Act. Federal
12 interference has caused and will continue to cause the Plaintiffs to suffer irreparable injury to
13 their Tenth Amendment rights. They have no adequate remedy at law. The Plaintiffs can show a
14 credible threat of actual harm to their Tenth Amendment rights. Plaintiffs are informed and
15 believe that at least eight medical marijuana raids by federal agents, including the WAMM raid,
16 have taken place in California, and that these raids are part of a federal policy of disrupting the
17 lawful use of medical marijuana. Unless enjoined, the federal government will continue to
18 conduct medical marijuana raids that commandeer the police power and executive functions of
19 the State of California and its political subdivisions, usurping the authority of California citizens
20 in violation of the Tenth Amendment.
21 FIFTH CAUSE OF ACTION
22 (Declaratory Relief: Immunity Of Local Officials)
23 121. The Plaintiffs incorporate by reference the allegations in paragraphs 1
24 through 120.
25 122. The Controlled Substances Act provides that no civil or criminal liability
26 shall be imposed under the act on any duly authorized officer of any State or political subdivision
27 thereof who is lawfully engaged in the enforcement of any law or municipal ordinance relating to
28 controlled substances. 21 U.S.C. § 885(d).
COMPLAINT FOR PRELIMINARY AND
PERMANENT INJUNCTIVE RELIEF,
DECLARATORY RELIEF, AND DAMAGES
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1 123. The City of Santa Cruz's Medical Marijuana Use Ordinance provides that
2 the city may deputize individuals and organizations to function as medical marijuana providers
3 to assist the City in implementing the City Ordinance and the Compassionate Use Act. City of
4 Santa Cruz Code § 6.90.080. On December 10, 2002, the Santa Cruz City Council adopted a
5 resolution deputizing WAMM, plaintiff Valerie Corral, and her husband and primary caregiver
6 Michael Corral to function as medical marijuana providers.
7 124. The Plaintiffs desire a judicial declaration that WAMM and the patient
8 Plaintiffs are immune from criminal and civil liability under the Controlled Substances Act by
9 virtue of their status as deputies of the City of Santa Cruz authorized to enforce the City's
10 Personal Medical Marijuana Use Ordinance, which was enacted pursuant to the Compassionate
11 Use Act and the City of Santa Cruz's broad authority to regulate health and welfare under
12 California's "Home Rule." Such a declaration is necessary and appropriate at this time so that
13 the Plaintiffs may implement and enjoy the protections of the duly enacted Compassionate Use
14 Act of 1996 and the City of Santa Cruz's Personal Medical Marijuana Use Ordinance free from
15 federal intrusion. Therefore, under 28 U.S.C. § 2201, the Plaintiffs are entitled to a judicial
16 declaration of immunity from civil and criminal liability under the Controlled Substances Act.
17 SIXTH CAUSE OF ACTION
18 (Damages For Violations Of The Fourth, Fifth,
Ninth, And Tenth Amendments)
19 125. The Plaintiffs hereby incorporate by reference the allegations in
paragraphs 1 through 124.
21 126. The DEAD agents' seizure of the WAMM patient Plaintiffs' medical
22 marijuana violated their rights under the Fifth, Ninth, and Tenth Amendments.
23 127. The WAMM raid also violated the WAMM patient Plaintiffs' Fourth
24 Amendment right to be free from unreasonable searches and seizures.
25 128. The agents raided the WAMM garden without probable cause that any
26 evidence of criminal activity was on the premises. To the extent that the agents purported to act
27 under color of the federal Controlled Substances Act, the search and seizure exceeded Congress'
28 powers under the Commerce Clause.
COMPLAINT FOR PRELIMINARY AND PERMANENT INJUNCTIVE
RELIEF,
DECLARATORY RELIEF, AND DAMAGES
30.
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1 129. The use of searches and seizures to conduct punitive expeditions where
2 criminal prosecution is not reasonably contemplated violates the prohibition against
3 unreasonable searches and seizures.
4 130. Additionally, the DEA agents performed the following actions during the
5 WAMM raid, all of which violate the Fourth Amendment's prohibition on unreasonable searches
6 and seizures:
7 131. They forcibly entered plaintiff Valerie Corral's home without knocking
8 and announcing their authority or purpose for entry;
9 132. They used unreasonable force in restraining Valerie and Michael Corral,
10 who did not offer resistance;
11 133. They arrested Valerie and Michael Corral in their home without an arrest
12 warrant;
13 134. They acted pursuant to a search warrant that did not particularly describe
14 the items to be searched for and seized;
15 135. They seized items that were not described in the search warrant; and
16 136. They engaged in an unlawful general search.
17 137. Plaintiffs are informed and believe that the DEA raid on WAMM was
18 motivated by a federal policy of harassing WAMM, disrupting its activities, and attempting to
19 stop its seriously ill patient members from cultivating medical marijuana, even though they are
20 entitled to do so under California law.
21 138. Therefore, the Plaintiffs are entitled under Bivens v. Six Unknown Named
22 Agents of Federal Bureau of Narcotics, 403 U. S. 388 (1971), to damages to compensate for the 23 Defendants' violation of their constitutional rights.
24 PRAYER FOR RELIEF
25 WHEREFORE, the Plaintiffs pray for judgment as follows:
26 1.For preliminary and permanent injunctions barring the Defendants from
27 violating the Fifth, Ninth, and Tenth Amendments and exceeding federal authority under the
28 Commerce Clause through continued seizures of medical marijuana and/or other interference
COMPLAINT FOR PRELIMINARY AND PERMANENT INJUNCTIVE
RELIEF,
DECLARATORY RELIEF, AND DAMAGES
31
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1 with the Plaintiffs' cultivation, possession, and use of medical marijuana;
2 2. For a judicial declaration that the ability to use medical marijuana is
3 necessary to protect the Plaintiffs' fundamental right to control the circumstances of their own
4 deaths, as secured by the Fifth and/or Ninth Amendments to the United States Constitution;
5 3. For a judicial declaration that the ability to use medical marijuana is
6 necessary to protect the Plaintiffs' fundamental rights to maintain bodily integrity, ameliorate
7 pain, preserve life, and to consult their physicians regarding treatment and to act on their
8 physicians' recommendations, as secured by the Fifth and/or Ninth Amendments to the United
9 States Constitution;
10 4. For a judicial declaration that, to the extent that the Defendants attempt to
11 regulate wholly intrastate, non-economic cultivation, possession, and use of legal medical
12 marijuana under color of the Controlled Substances Act, their actions exceed Congress' authority
13 under the Commerce Clause;
14 5. For a judicial declaration that federal interference with implementation of
15 the Compassionate Use Act of 1996 constitutes commandeering of the police power and
16 executive functions of State of California and its political subdivisions, in violation of the Tenth
17 Amendment;
18 6. For a judicial declaration that WAMM and the patient Plaintiffs are
19 immune from criminal and civil liability under the Controlled Substances Act by virtue of their
20 status as deputies of the City of Santa Cruz authorized to enforce the City's Personal Medical
21 Marijuana Use Ordinance;
22 7. For an injunction ordering the Defendants to return the medical marijuana
23 unconstitutionally seized from WAMM on September 5, 2002;
24 8. For compensatory damages in an amount according to proof arising from
25 the Defendants' violations of the Plaintiffs' rights under the Fourth, Fifth, Ninth, and Tenth
26 Amendments;
27 9. For punitive damages arising from the Defendants' callous disregard of
28 the Plaintiffs' rights under the Fourth, Fifth, Ninth, and Tenth Amendments;
COMPLAINT FOR PRELIMINARY AND PERMANENT INJUNCTIVE
RELIEF,
DECLARATORY RELIEF, AND DAMAGES
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1 10. For reasonable attorneys' fees and costs of suit; and
2 11. For such other and further relief as the Court may deem proper.
3 JURY DEMAND
4 Plaintiffs demand a jury trial of those causes of action triable to a jury.
5
6 DATED: April'/, 2003 BINGHAM McCUTCHEN LLP
7 By: <signed on original document>
8 Frank Kennamer
9 Attorneys for WAMM Plaintiffs
10 Additional Counsel:
11 Daniel Abrahamson (SBN 158668)
Judith Appel (SBN 179121) DRUG
12 POLICY ALLIANCE
Office Of Legal Affairs
13 717 Washington Street Oakland, California 94607
14 Telephone: 510.208.7711
Facsimile: 510.208.7722
15
16 Attorneys for WAMM Plaintiff
17 Benjamin Rice (SBN 98551)
331 Soquel Avenue, Suite 203
Santa Cruz, California 95062
18 Telephone: 831.425.0555
Facsimile: 831.459.9815
19
20 Attorney for County of Santa Cruz and WAMM Plaintiffs
21
John Barisone (SBN 87831)
22 333 Church Street
Santa Cruz, California 95060
23 Telephone: 831.423.8383
Facsimile: 831.423.9401
24
Attorney for City of Santa Cruz, California
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COMPLAINT FOR PRELIMINARY AND PERMANENT INJUNCTIVE RELIEF,
DECLARATORY RELIEF, AND DAMAGES
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