Medical marijuana dispensary appeal declined1 min read

On Dec. 20, the three-judge panel of the Arizona Court of Appeals for Division I declined an expedited appeal filed by Maricopa County Attorney William Montgomery aimed at preventing medical marijuana dispensaries from opening their doors.

Medical marijuana patients got an early Christmas gift from Arizona’s Court of Appeals. On Dec. 20, the three-judge panel declined an expedited appeal filed by Maricopa County Attorney William Montgomery aimed at preventing medical marijuana dispensaries from opening their doors.

The court’s action lets stand a lower court’s ruling on Dec. 3 that effectively allowed the first dispensaries to open around Arizona. Court of Appeals Presiding Judge Samuel A. Thumma and Judges Michael J. Brown and Diane M. Johnsen heard oral arguments from Maricopa County Deputy Attorney Thomas P. Liddy and plaintiff’s attorney Kelly J. Flood on Dec. 20 and declined to overturn Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Michael D. Gordon’s ruling against Montgomery and in favor of a planned dispensary in Sun City.

The Dec. 20 decline has no bearing on the regular appeal, Thumma wrote in the court’s opinion, meaning the case will likely still come before the court later this year. In the meantime, Gordon’s ruling is the law of the land.

For the full story, see the Friday, Jan. 4, edition of the Sedona Red Rock News.

Christopher Fox Graham

Christopher Fox Graham is the managing editor of the Sedona Rock Rock News, The Camp Verde Journal and the Cottonwood Journal Extra. Hired by Larson Newspapers as a copy editor in 2004, he became assistant manager editor in October 2009 and managing editor in August 2013. Graham has won awards for editorials, investigative news reporting, headline writing, page design and community service from the Arizona Newspapers Association. Graham has also been a guest contributor in Editor & Publisher magazine and featured in the LA Times, New York Post and San Francisco Chronicle. He lectures on journalism and First Amendment law and is a nationally recognized performance aka slam poet. Retired U.S. Army Col. John Mills, former director of Cybersecurity Policy, Strategy, and International Affairs referred to him as "Mr. Slam Poet."

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Christopher Fox Graham
Christopher Fox Graham is the managing editor of the Sedona Rock Rock News, The Camp Verde Journal and the Cottonwood Journal Extra. Hired by Larson Newspapers as a copy editor in 2004, he became assistant manager editor in October 2009 and managing editor in August 2013. Graham has won awards for editorials, investigative news reporting, headline writing, page design and community service from the Arizona Newspapers Association. Graham has also been a guest contributor in Editor & Publisher magazine and featured in the LA Times, New York Post and San Francisco Chronicle. He lectures on journalism and First Amendment law and is a nationally recognized performance aka slam poet. Retired U.S. Army Col. John Mills, former director of Cybersecurity Policy, Strategy, and International Affairs referred to him as "Mr. Slam Poet."