Federal Magistrate Rejects Free Exercise Challenge To Marijuana Laws

In Hutchinson v. State of Maine, (D ME, July 20, 2009), a Maine federal magistrate judge recommended rejecting a free exercise challenge to Maine's prohibition on the cultivation of marijuana. Plaintiff James Hutchinson, who had been convicted on marijuana charges, brought a civil suit challenging the law. He claimed to be a member of The Religion of Jesus Church which has as a sacrament the use of cannabis. The court concluded that prior precedent precludes relying on the First Amendment or on the Maine Constitution's free exercise protections to invalidate marijuana laws. Today's Lewiston (ME) Sun Journal reports on the decision.