Texas AG Ken Paxton sues Dallas over charter amendment decriminalizing marijuana possession
DALLAS — The Texas Attorney General's Office filed a lawsuit against the city of Dallas to prevent the city from implementing a ballot initiative the voters approved earlier this month.
Dallas passed the charter amendment known as Proposition R, which decriminalizes possession of less than four ounces of marijuana. It also prevents police from using the odor of marijuana to establish probable cause to search people without a warrant.
In the lawsuit, the state argues that the city cannot implement the charter amendment because it conflicts with two state laws. One of the laws makes possession of up to four ounces of marijuana a misdemeanor. The other law prohibits municipalities from making policies that do not fully enforce state laws.
"Cities cannot pick and choose which State laws they follow. The City of Dallas has no authority to override Texas drug laws or prohibit the police from enforcing them. This is a backdoor attempt to violate the Texas Constitution, and any city that tries to constrain police in this fashion will be met swiftly with a lawsuit by my office," Attorney General Ken Paxton said in a statement.
'We certainly expected for the lawsuit to be filed," said Amy Kamp with Ground Game Texas, the organization behind the ballot proposition.
It says the proposition was carefully drafted to comply with state law.
"It's not legalizing marijuana. It's simply saying, let's prioritize different things," said Kamp.
The amendment bars police from arresting anyone for possessing four ounces of marijuana or less, and 67% of Dallas voters supported the measure.
Earlier this year, Paxton sued Denton and four other cities over similar attempts to decriminalize marijuana.
Legal fights, though, have gotten stuck on the issue of whether Paxton has a right to sue, or jurisdiction.
"Under Texas law, cities, municipalities have immunity from suit, not only as to damages, generally, but also any relief where a court would order them to do something or refrain from doing something," said Richard Gladden, the attorney for Decriminalize Denton.
In a statement issued Thursday afternoon, the City of Dallas said, "The city is aware of the lawsuit filed by the State of Texas regarding Proposition R and will respond to the lawsuit at the appropriate time."