Now I’m not a lawyer. But I’m not an idiot either. I can read the ruling that District Court Judge Susan Strong wrote when she threw out the case against the medical marijuana petitioners and know that the opponents of medical marijuana should quietly go away and acknowledge that the people and the courts have spoken.

I wonder if their egos and political careers will let them just ride quietly into the sunset.

After all, they made some pretty serious claims against the medical marijuana petitioners but they couldn’t back up those claims with actual evidence in court. Do they really want to go before the State Supreme Court and lose again?

When Attorney General Mike Hilgers and former state senator and former state board of health member John Kuehn brought the initial charges against the petitioners, it reminded me of what the Trump campaign did after the 2020 election. Remember when President Trump, Rudy Giuliani and other surrogates would make these outrageous claims of voter fraud in front of the cameras but then fail to back up those claims in court?

It looks like the opponents of medical marijuana did the same sort of thing.

They asserted that since one paid petitioner in Norfolk had tried to get some names he took out of the phone book submitted, that must mean that thousands of other signatures couldn’t be legit either. However, those few names he took out of the phone book were caught before they would make it to the Secretary of State’s office. And before the election when the opponents of medical marijuana were trying to get it off the ballot, they charged the man with a felony. After the election when about 70% of the electorate supported the bill, those charges were lowered to a misdemeanor, and instead of facing a jail sentence, he wound up paying a small fine.

A notary was also facing charges, but a judge threw those charges out of court.

In Judge Strong’s extensive 57-page report she noted that the opponents could only invalidate 711 signatures on one petition and 826 on the other. The supporters of the bill submitted about 3500 more signatures than was needed. So, the invalidated signatures that the opponents could prove still fell way short of what they claimed they had or needed to stop the initiative from becoming law.

I have some experience in gathering signatures for medical marijuana. I did not circulate a petition this time around, but in the two previous tries, I did collect signatures. I will tell you from my firsthand knowledge almost everyone I approached was happy to sign. The 70% of voters who approved the initiative prove that the people of Nebraska can’t see any reason to keep medical marijuana from Nebraskans who could benefit from it.

As I write this, the Attorney General and his staff are mulling over their options. Judge Strong and other observers assume that this case will be appealed to the Nebraska Supreme Court. I wouldn’t be surprised if it is.

After all, the State Supreme Court took it off the ballot the first time the signatures were submitted years ago. But that case was all about how the petition was worded. This case is significantly different. The wording of the two petitions is not in question. The number of valid signatures is. And so far, the state has not been able to prove that there are enough invalid signatures to silence the voice of the people.

Now I know that Senator Ricketts, former coach and congressman Tom Osborne, and other powerful people are against medical marijuana. My guess is they will want the AG to take this case to the State Supreme Court as kind of a legal Hail Mary pass if you will.

After all, what have they got to lose? They’ve already lost.

There is currently one vacancy on the court, but of the six justices on the bench all but one have been appointed by Republican Governors. Three of the six were appointed by Senator Ricketts when he was governor. If the Supreme Court takes the case, I certainly hope politics will not be part of their decision.

Like I said, I’m not a lawyer, but I’m not an idiot either. The people want medical marijuana. Judge Strong has said the state doesn’t have a case. If the state’s lawyers are smart, they’ll drop this case and focus on real crimes...

Tom Becka is a long time Nebraska broadcaster who for over 30 years has been covering Omaha and Midwest issues on both radio and TV. He has been a guest on numerous national cable and news shows, filled in for nationally syndicated talk radio programs and Talkers Magazine has recognized him as one of the Top 100 talk show hosts in the country 10 times. Never afraid to ruffle some feathers, his ‘Becka’s Beat’ commentaries can be found online on Youtube and other digital platforms.

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