Lynch Wins McIntosh Hearing
September 13, 2018 9th Circuit Lynch wins McIntosh Hearing
After 10 years on appeal the 9th Circuit finally made a decision in USA vs Lynch. The Good News Lynch won a McIntosh hearing which says Federal Government cannot spend money to overthrow state medical marijuana laws. The Rider has been on the books since 2015. This year it is known as the Consolidated Appropriations Act 2019 Division C Section 537. The Bad news, even McIntosh himself has not won his arguments which are still ongoing.
The panel did not need to reach the question of whether a congressional appropriations rider (enacted following the filing of this appeal), which this court has interpreted to prohibit the federal prosecution of persons for activities compliant with state medical marijuana laws, operates to annul a properly obtained conviction. The panel explained that a genuine dispute exists as to whether Lynch’s activities were actually legal under California state law, and therefore remanded to the district court for a factual determination as to state-law compliance.
Lynch has also filed to have his case heard by the Supreme Court. Visit the Appeal and Supreme Court pages for the latest updates.