State attorney general backs Supreme Court challenge over homeless camps
Victoria Traxler | Montana Public Radio
Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen is pushing back on recent legal restrictions banning homeless camps. Knudsen, with support from 23 other attorneys general, argued states are losing their ability to prevent homeless camps.
The states filed an amicus brief in the U.S. Supreme Court case of Johnson v. City of Grants Pass. The case asks the high court to reverse a Ninth Circuit decision restricting local governments from enforcing laws that prevent homeless encampments. The Ninth Circuit determined it was cruel and unusual punishment to arrest or ticket people for sleeping outside who have no other safe place to go.
The attorneys general argue under the Ninth Circuit ruling “States will be deprived of a valuable tool to combat the public harms associated with homelessness.”
The National Alliance to End Homelessness said in a statement that overturning the ruling will deter evidence-based support for unhoused people. The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear arguments regarding the case in April 2024.
Court orders veto override poll for marijuana tax bill
Ellis Juhlin | Montana Public Radio
A state court has ordered Montana’s Governor and Secretary of State to let lawmakers vote on whether to override the veto on a 2023 bill to redistribute marijuana sales tax revenue.
District Court Judge Mike Menahan ordered Gov. Greg Gianforte and Secretary of State Christi Jacobsen to poll lawmakers on overriding the veto by March 19.
This is the latest in an ongoing back-and-forth between Gianforte, lawmakers and interest groups backing the policy to give more marijuana sales tax money to county road maintenance and several conservation and habitat programs.
The bill was supported by 80% of lawmakers and Gianforte vetoed it on the last day of the session.
Gianforte earlier this year resisted sending out the override poll but Menahan’s latest ruling denies that request.
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Montana’s two U.S. senators are throwing their support behind a bipartisan effort to push new federal marijuana laws through Congress before the end of the current term.
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Local option sales taxes on recreational marijuana appear to have been favored during Montana’s midterm election. Efforts to ban recreational sales had a more mixed response.
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Marijuana dispensary owners in Great Falls have won a lawsuit against the city. The decision determined a city where sales are legal can’t ban marijuana businesses without holding an election.
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Two years after Montana voters statewide legalized recreational marijuana some communities are still fighting over the issue. Recreational sales are once again on the ballot this November.
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Attorney Raph Graybill is representing the Yatskos and says the city ban is illegal because Cascade County voters approved recreational marijuana in 2020.
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According to Montana Department of Revenue data, that nearly $16 million in recreational marijuana sales represents a roughly $2.3 million bump over February’s receipts.