Ravin V Alaska
Ravin v. State, 537 P.2d 494 (Alaska 1975), was a 1975 decision by the Alaska Supreme Court that held the Alaska Constitution‘s right to privacy protects an adult’s ability to use and possess a small amount of marijuana in the home for personal use.[1] The Alaska Supreme Court thereby became the first—and only—state or federal court to announce a constitutional privacy right that protects some level of marijuana use and possession.[1]
History[edit]
It was brought about by Irwin Ravin, an attorney who deliberately got arrested in Anchorage for refusing to sign a traffic ticket while in possession of marijuana in order to challenge the existing law.
The court ruled:[2]
| “ | …we conclude that no adequate justification for the state’s intrusion into the citizen’s right to privacy by its prohibition of possession of marijuana by an adult for personal consumption in the home has been shown. The privacy of the individual’s home cannot be breached absent a persuasive showing of a close and substantial relationship of the intrusion to a legitimate governmental interest. Here, mere scientific doubts will not suffice. The state must demonstrate a need based on proof that the public health or welfare will in fact suffer if the controls are not applied. | ” |
Subsequent law[edit]
Alaskan voters approved a ballot initiative recriminalizing marijuana possession in 1990, but in Noy v. State, the Alaska Court of Appeals held that ballot iniatives are subject to the same constitutional limitations as legislative enactments, and thus the portion of the amended statutes criminalizing possession of less than four ounces of marijuana in the home was unconstitutional.[3] In June 2006, the Alaska Legislature amended the law to prohibit the possession of less than one ounce of marijuana and to make possession of more than one ounce of marijuana a class A misdemeanor.[4] As of November 2009, Alaskan courts have not considered the constitutionality of this statute.
References[edit]
- ^ Jump up to:a b Brandeis 2012, p. 175.
- Jump up^ Doug Linder (1975-05-27). “Ravin v State”. Law.umkc.edu. Retrieved 2011-04-20.
- Jump up^ Noy v. State, 83 P.3d 538 (Alaska App. 2003). http://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=17763301345063946977&q=%22noy+v.+state%22&hl=en&as_sdt=2002
- Jump up^ State v. American Civil Liberties Union of Alaska, 204 P.3d 364 (Alaska 2009). http://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=245698136814114591&q=%22204+P.3d+364%22&hl=en&as_sdt=2002
- Brandeis, Jason (2012). “The Continuing Vitality of Ravin v. State: Alaskans Still Have a Constitutional Right to Possess Marijuana in the Privacy of Their Homes”. Alaska Law Review 29 (2): 175–236.
