South Dakota Supreme Court rules against pot legalization
FILE - In this Feb. 27, 2021 file photo, South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem speaks at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Orlando, Fla. Noem initially appeared eager to deliver what looked like an easy win for social conservatives. South Dakota's GOP-led legislature passed a bill banning transgender women and girls participating in women's sports leagues, and the Republican governor declared herself “excited to sign” the bill. But Noem’s enthusiasm faded surprisingly fast and she came up with a “partial veto" to exclude collegiate athletics. (AP Photo/John Raoux, file)
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) — The South Dakota Supreme Court has upheld a lower court’s ruling that nullified a voter-passed amendment to the state constitution that would have legalized recreational marijuana use.
Gov. Kristi Noem instigated the legal fight to strike down the amendment passed by voters in November.
The Republican governor opposed marijuana legalization as a social ill, but her administration argued in court that the amendment would have broken technical rules of the state constitution.
The state Supreme Court sided with those arguments, ruling Wednesday that the measure would have violated the state’s requirement that constitutional amendments deal with just one subject.