Nebraska Supreme Court Hears Challenge to Medical Cannabis Petition Signatures 

The Nebraska Supreme Court last week heard arguments about the validity of signatures on the two medical cannabis petitions approved by voters last fall, KOLN reports. In the lawsuit, Former state Sen. John Kuehn, Secretary of State Bob Evnen, and Attorney General Mike Hilgers argue that tens of thousands of signatures required to put the issue to voters were fraudulent and improperly notarized and are, therefore, invalid.  

A lower court has already tossed the lawsuit, but Andrew La Grone, an attorney for the appellants argued that “When there are bad acts related to the affidavit…the value of the verification is destroyed and the petition must fall unless the genuineness of the signature is affirmatively shown.” 

In a Facebook post ahead of the hearing, Nebraskans for Medical Marijuana, which led the ballot campaign, said “People don’t try this hard to destroy something that doesn’t matter.”  

Nebraskans for Medical Marijuana has fought for one simple truth: sick and suffering people deserve compassion, relief, and dignity. And because our work is making real change, the opposition has done everything in its power to tear it down. But their attacks only prove our impact. … They cannot erase the 540,000 Nebraskans who stood with us. They cannot silence the parents, veterans, and patients whose only relief comes from cannabis. They cannot undo the will of the voters. Every lawsuit, every delay, every political maneuver is confirmation that we are winning.” — Nebraskans for Medical Marijuana in a Facebook post. 

During the arguments, La Grone contended that “Allowing the district court’s opinion to stand would allow merely two bad actors to fraudulently place any measure on the ballot so long as they both invoke the Fifth Amendment.” 

The court could rule that the petitioners must prove that the already-validated signatures are valid or it could toss entirely the legality of the petition and the medical cannabis reforms. 

A decision in the case is expected in the next few weeks.