Medical Pot Activist May Sue Over Bust at Airport

By Brian Seals, Sentinel Staff Writer
Source: Santa Cruz Sentinel

Santa Cruz -- A well-known local medical marijuana advocate is considering a lawsuit after getting caught with the drug at a Southern California airport in late July. Valerie Corral said she was at Bob Hope Airport in Burbank when security officials found about "5 or so grams" of pot in her bag. She had a Santa Cruz County medical identification card and a doctor's recommendation, she said.

That didn't keep her from being detained for about 45 minutes, having her pot taken and getting a citation.

Corral, co-founder of Santa Cruz's Wo/Men's Alliance for Medical Marijuana, said she is fighting the charge, and may sue to ensure state medical marijuana laws are followed in the city. She is getting help from the Drug Law Reform Project of the American Civil Liberties Union based in Santa Cruz.

"We intend to plead not guilty," said ACLU staff attorney Christina Alvarez of Santa Cruz.

A court hearing on the misdemeanor charge is set for Aug. 29. Alvarez said a decision on a civil suit would be made after that.

"Our primary concern is the police appeared to be under the impression the Compassionate Use Act was no longer in effect in California," Alvarez said.

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in June that the federal government can charge people for marijuana possession even if they have a doctor's recommendation and live in a state that has approved medical marijuana.

After the ruling, California Attorney General Bill Lockyer issued a statement saying the ruling had no impact on the validity of the California law.

Calls to the Burbank Police Department were referred to Bob Hope Airport, which has a separate police force. An airport spokesman declined comment, except to say citations issued by airport police are forwarded to city police.

Corral said she typically takes marijuana with her when traveling in California, but not to other states.

After a bust of WAMM's Davenport garden in September 2002, the group sued the U.S. Attorney General's office in U.S. District Court in San Jose, eventually winning an injunction barring raids on its Davenport garden by federal agents.

Source: Santa Cruz Sentinel (CA)
Author: Brian Seals, Sentinel Staff Writer
Published: August 20, 2005
Copyright: 2005 Santa Cruz Sentinel
Contact: editorial@santa-cruz.com
Website: http://www.santacruzsentinel.com/
Link to article: http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread21045.shtml

 

For Immediate Release
Source: ACLU

Burbank, CA -- Confronted with the prospect of a jury trial set to begin next week, a Burbank city attorney today dropped charges against medical marijuana patient Valerie Corral. The American Civil Liberties Union, which represents Corral, was poised to challenge Burbank's illegal policy of pursuing prosecutions against medical marijuana patients known to be innocent. Despite having dropped the charges against Corral, the city attorney continues to insist that she is guilty and has refused to order police to return her seized medical marijuana.

Corral, who uses medical marijuana to minimize the occurrence of seizures caused by head trauma sustained in a near-fatal car accident years ago, was detained by local police at the Burbank airport for possession of marijuana even though she presented a Santa Cruz County-issued medical marijuana card identifying herself as a legal patient under California law. “The police had absolutely no reason to doubt that Ms. Corral was a legal patient once they saw her identification card. It should have ended there,” said Christina Alvarez, a staff attorney with the ACLU Drug Law Reform Project. “Instead, they have wasted Ms. Corral's time and the court's time by ignoring well-established California law.”

Airport officials found a small amount of marijuana in Corral's carry-on bag during routine screening procedures. The marijuana was contained in a plastic bag along with Corral's Santa Cruz County-issued medical marijuana identification card. After examining her medical marijuana identification card but refusing to take any further action to confirm Corral's legal status, the police cited her for illegal possession of marijuana, a misdemeanor offense, and seized the medication. Corral faced a $100 fine, a criminal record and the possibility of enhanced sentencing should she ever be convicted of a federal crime – a special concern for Corral, who is a high-profile activist and plaintiff in a lawsuit against the federal government's persecution of medical marijuana patients.

The ACLU argued that California's Compassionate Use Act protects patients like Corral from detainment and citation by local and state law enforcement for possessing marijuana if they present credible evidence of their status as legitimate medical marijuana patients. Judge Hegarty of the Superior Court of Los Angeles refused to order the return of Corral's medical marijuana, a refusal the ACLU will immediately challenge.

“The city of Burbank clearly has a policy of coercing qualified medical marijuana patients into pleading guilty when they are entirely innocent of wrongdoing,” added Alvarez. “Valerie Corral just happened to be a patient who refused to back down. We intend to challenge this policy until we gain a factual finding of innocence from the city attorney.”

California's Compassionate Use Act, passed in 1998, allows patients with a doctor's recommendation to legally use marijuana for medical purposes. Although several counties currently issue registration cards for the primary purpose of identifying legally qualified medical marijuana patients to law enforcement, the Compassionate Use Act does not require patients to possess such a card to be entitled to protection under the law. The California Department of Health Services planned to implement a state-wide identification card system by August 2005, however, less than 200 of the estimated 100,000 patients currently have state-issued cards.

“A city cannot arbitrarily choose the laws it will enforce,” said Corral. “Every citizen must obey the law, including Burbank police officers.”

Complete Title: ACLU Challenges Burbank Policy of Pursuing: City Attorney Drops Charges at the Last Minute to Avoid Jury Trial

For more information about Valerie Corral, visit: http://www.aclu.org/DrugPolicy/DrugPolicy.cfm?ID=19133&c=81

Source: ACLU (NY)
Published: September 22, 2005
Copyright: 2005 ACLU
Contact: media@aclu.org
Website: http://www.aclu.org/
Link to article: http://www.cannabisnews.com/news/thread21134.shtml

 

By Jason Kandel, Staff Writer
Source: Los Angeles Daily News

Burbank, CA -- The Burbank City Attorney's Office on Thursday dropped a misdemeanor drug possession charge against a Santa Cruz medical marijuana patient who was cited in July at the Bob Hope Airport, the ACLU said Thursday. The charge against Valerie Corral, who was detained when screeners allegedly spotted marijuana in her carry-on bag, was dismissed.

She was cited by police even though she had a Santa Cruz County-issued medical marijuana card, authorized under the state's Compassionate Use Act, said her attorney, Christina Alvarez, with the American Civil Liberties Union Drug Law Reform Project.

Police wrote her a misdemeanor drug possession citation, which carried a $100 fine, and her marijuana was seized. The ACLU took up her case, and challenged the citation in court.

The city attorney dropped the charge in a hearing in Burbank Superior Court on Thursday, but refused to clear her misdemeanor record, declaring her factually guilty, an issue the ACLU said it will challenge in court. As a result, if Corral were ever convicted of a federal crime, she could get an enhanced sentence, Alvarez said.

A call to the City Attorney's Office for comment was not returned.

"The police had absolutely no reason to doubt that Ms. Corral was a legal patient once they saw her identification card," said Alvarez. "It should have ended there. Instead, they wasted Ms. Corral's time and the court's time by ignoring well-established California law."

Corral uses marijuana to quell seizures that are caused by head trauma she suffered in a car crash years ago. She is the co-founder of the Santa Cruz-based Women's Alliance for Medical Marijuana. She is also a high-profile activist and plaintiff in a lawsuit against the federal government's law against pot use for medical purposes.

Under a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling, the federal government can prosecute people for marijuana possession even if they have a doctor's recommendation and live in a state that approves of it.

California's Compassionate Use Act, passed in 1998, allows patients with their doctor's OK to legally use pot for medical purposes, and California Attorney General Bill Lockyer has said that the federal mandate has no impact on state law.

"We intend to challenge this policy until we gain a factual finding of innocence from the city attorney," Alvarez said.

For more information about Valerie Corral, visit: http://www.aclu.org/DrugPolicy/DrugPolicy.cfm?ID=19133&c=81

Source: Los Angeles Daily News (CA)
Author: Jason Kandel, Staff Writer
Published: Friday, September 23, 2005
Copyright: 2005 Los Angeles Daily News
Website: http://www.dailynews.com/
Contact: dan.laidman@dailynews.com
Link to article: http://www.cannabisnews.com/news/thread21135.shtml

 

By Brian Seals, Sentinel Staff Writer
Source: Santa Cruz Sentinel

Santa Cruz -- Misdemeanor pot possession charges against local medical marijuana advocate Valerie Corral were dropped Thursday, but the fight isn't completely over. Aided by the American Civil Liberties Union, Corral said she will battle to get back the confiscated pot and seek a change in how the city of Burbank addresses medical marijuana laws.

Corral was charged July 27 for possessing a small amount, about 5 grams, of pot while passing through security at the Bob Hope Airport in Burbank.

She along with husband Mike are co-founders of the Santa Cruz-based Wo/men's Alliance for Medical Marijuana.

Though only a misdemeanor that carried a $100 fine, Corral planned to fight the charge and go to a jury trial.

At a pre-trial hearing Thursday in Los Angeles County Superior Court the charges were dropped, said Anjuli Verma, advocacy director of the American Civil Liberties Union's Drug Law Reform Project in Santa Cruz.

"What would have come out in court is that the city of Burbank has a policy of prosecuting medical marijuana patients they know are innocent," Verma said.

Corral and the ACLU say they plan to try to get prosecutors to stipulate that she is innocent and will seek return of the marijuana that was confiscated.

"We're going to get our medicine back," Corral said by cell phone Thursday. "Every gram is important for this organization."Corral and the ACLU also want Burbank to abide by California's 1996 Compassionate Use Act, Verma said.

Corral's pot was in a small plastic bag along wither her Santa Cruz County-issued medical marijuana identification card.

A phone call to the Burbank City Attorney's office was not returned.

California voters approved the Compassionate Use Act, or Proposition 215, in 1996.

A U.S. Supreme Court ruling in June held that federal authorities may prosecute federal marijuana charges regardless of what laws a state has passed.

California Attorney General Bill Lockyer subsequently opined that the ruling had no impact on the validity of California law.

For more information about Valerie Corral, visit: http://www.aclu.org/DrugPolicy/DrugPolicy.cfm?ID=19133&c=81

Source: Santa Cruz Sentinel (CA)
Author: Brian Seals, Sentinel Staff Writer
Published: September 23, 2005
Copyright: 2005 Santa Cruz Sentinel
Contact: editorial@santa-cruz.com
Website: http://www.santacruzsentinel.com/
Link to article: http://www.cannabisnews.com/news/thread21136.shtml