State v. McNeil

On October 29, 1993, in the case of State v. McNeil, Alaska Superior Court Judge Michael A. Thompson dismissed Patrick A. McNeil's marijuana possession charges, holding that the 1975 Ravin decision was still valid, despite the 1990 marijuana re-criminalization initiative.

Judge Thompson ruled, "Ravin was founded in the Supreme Court's interpretation of the Alaska Constitution. The legislature -- nor for that matter the people through the initiative -- cannot 'fix' what it disliked in an interpretation of that document by legislation. The only way to 'fix' the Constitution is by the amendment process or a new convention. The initiative was inadequate to overrule Ravin and that case remains the law."

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1993: State v. McNeil
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