Title: Tay v. Green
Citation: 2022 OK 38
Docket Number: 
State: Oklahoma
Issuer: Oklahoma Supreme Court
Date: April 19, 2022

Tay v. Green Annotate this Case Justia Opinion Summary Petitioner challenged the legal sufficiency of Oklahoma State Question No. 818, Initiative Petition No. 432. State Question 818, Petition No. 432 sought to create a new article to the Oklahoma Constitution, Article 31, which would: (1) replace the Oklahoma Medical Marijuana Authority with a new state agency--the "Oklahoma State Cannabis Commission" and define its duties; and (2) expand the statutory framework regarding regulation and taxation of medical marijuana. Petitioner Paul Tay, alleged State Question No. 818, Petition No. 432 was unconstitutional because: (1) it was preempted by federal law; (2) signatures gathered on and elections held on tribal land would be invalid; and (3) its gist was insufficient. After review, the Oklahoma Supreme Court held Petitioner failed to establish clear or manifest facial unconstitutionality. State Question No. 818, Initiative Petition No. 432 was therefore legally sufficient for submission to Oklahomans for voting. Read more Want to stay in the know about new opinions from the Oklahoma Supreme Court? Sign up for free summaries delivered directly to your inbox. Learn More › You already receive new opinion summaries from Oklahoma Supreme Court. Did you know we offer summary newsletters for even more practice areas and jurisdictions? Explore them here . TAY v. GREEN 2022 OK 38 Case Number: 119984; Comp. w/119927 Decided: 04/19/2022 THE SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF OKLAHOMA NOTICE: THIS OPINION HAS NOT BEEN RELEASED FOR PUBLICATION. UNTIL RELEASED, IT IS SUBJECT TO REVISION OR WITHDRAWAL. PAUL TAY, Petitioner, v. JED GREEN and KRISTOPHER MASTERMAN, Respondents. ORIGINAL PROCEEDING TO DETERMINE THE CONSTITUTIONAL VALIDITY OF STATE QUESTION NO. 819, INITIATIVE PETITION NO. 433. ¶0 This original proceeding determines the legal sufficiency of State Question No. 819, Initiative Petition No. 433, which seeks to create a new article to the Oklahoma Constitution, Article 32, which would legalize, regulate, and tax the recreational use of marijuana by adults age 21 years and older. Petitioner, Paul Tay, alleges that State Question No. 819, Petition No. 433 is unconstitutional for four reasons: (1) it is preempted by federal law; (2) signatures gathered on and elections held on tribal land would be invalid; (3) it violates the doctrine of non-retroactivity in post-conviction proceedings; and (4) the proposed gist is insufficient. Upon review, we hold Petitioner has not established clear or manifest facial unconstitutionality regarding the proposition's provisions; however, because the gist is insufficient and misleading with respect to Section 5, we invoke the severability clause in Section 9 and strike Section 5 and any reference to the stricken provision in the gist. State Question No. 819, Initiative Petition No. 433, as severed, is legally sufficient for submission to Oklahomans for voting. STATE QUESTION NO. 819, INITIATIVE PETITION NO. 433, AS SEVERED, IS LEGALLY SUFFICIENT. Paul Tay, Tulsa, Oklahoma, pro se Petitioner. Stephen Cale, Cale Law Office, Tulsa, Oklahoma, for Respondents. Gurich, J. Facts & Procedural History ¶1 On October 28, 2021, Respondents Jed Green and Kristopher Masterman, filed State Question No. 819, Initiative Petition No. 433 (SQ 819) with the Oklahoma Secretary of State. SQ 819 proposed creation of a new constitutional article, Article 32, which would legalize, regulate, and tax the recreational use of marijuana by adults age 21 years and older. The Oklahoma Secretary of State published notice of the filing on November 4, 2021. Petitioner timely brought this challenge on November 5, 2021, in accordance with 34 O.S.2021, § 8(B), https://govt.westlaw.com/okjc (follow hyperlink titled "General Provisions").1 Between January 14th and February 17th, 2022, Petitioner filed ten motions for summary or declaratory judgment.2 On February 28, 2022, Petitioner filed a notice of intention to appeal and a request for a stay of signature gathering.3 Proposed Measure ¶2 Proposed Article 32 contains eleven (11) sections. Section 1 safeguards medical-marijuana patient, caregiver, and business licensees against any limiting construction of Article 32. ¶3 Section 2 grants personal rights and protections. Section 2 establishes the right "to grow, purchase, transport, transfer, receive, prepare and consume marijuana and marijuana products," subject to form and quantity limitations. It also permits the purchase, possession, and use of marijuana paraphernalia. Additionally, Section 2 provides general protections against arrest, prosecution, penalty, discipline, or discrimination by state and local government based solely on conduct permitted under Article 32. It expands on these general protections with regard to employment, medical care, parental rights, licensure rights, and due process and equal protection rights. Further, Section 2 protects financial-service providers from liability solely for providing services to any marijuana business licensed by the State of Oklahoma. It also requires the marijuana regulatory agency to comply with privacy laws. Lastly, Section 2 addresses local and homegrow rights: it prohibits additional licensing or fees related to homegrows; limits local-government regulation thereof; allows landlords to restrict homegrows; allows landlords and businesses to restrict indoor smoking or vaping of marijuana or marijuana products--but not other forms of lawful possession or consumption; and prohibits any statute, ordinance, or regulation regarding vaping or smoking cannabis that is more restrictive than those regarding tobacco use. ¶4 Section 3 authorizes the medical-marijuana regulatory agency to regulate recreational marijuana and authorizes medical-marijuana business licensees to commence recreational-marijuana business of the same business-license type without additional fee, license, or registration requirements. Moreover, Section 3 establishes when and to whom dispensaries may begin recreational-marijuana sales and requires the marijuana regulatory agency to adopt regulations authorizing residential delivery. ¶5 Section 4 establishes a framework for taxes and expenditures. It charges an excise tax of fifteen percent (15%), subject to lowering by the Oklahoma legislature, on marijuana and marijuana products purchased by persons who are not patient or caregiver licensees. On products purchased by patient or caregiver licensees, Section 4 imposes a seven percent (7%) excise tax, which incrementally drops to zero percent (0%) over one year. Further, Section 4 instructs the Oklahoma Tax Commission (OTC) to collect and direct taxes to a fund managed by the marijuana regulatory agency. It requires the agency to use the tax revenue to pay operational costs and allocates remaining revenue amongst various organizations, programs, and funds for certain expenditures. Subject to state or federal action permitting interstate or international export of marijuana and marijuana products, Section 4 instructs the OTC to collect a three percent (3%) wholesale tax and deposit the tax revenue in the State General Revenue Fund. ¶6 Section 5 regards retroactivity. It requires the Oklahoma Department of Corrections to publish within 180 days a list of persons currently incarcerated for marijuana-related state-court convictions. It permits currently incarcerated persons whose conduct would be allowed under Article 32 to request resentencing, modification, or reversal. It allows like persons who have completed their sentences to request dismissal, expungement, and vacatur of their conviction. Further, it requires the court to presume satisfaction of the criteria for the request and "without delay resentence or reverse the conviction as legally invalid, modify the judgment and sentence, or expunge and vacate the charges." Moreover, it states that expungement "shall automatically restore" firearm-ownership and voting rights. By its terms, Section 5 is applicable to juvenile cases "as if the juvenile had been of legal age at the time of the offense." Lastly, it safeguards petitioners from any construction that would diminish or abrogate other available rights or remedies or limit legislative authority regarding same. ¶7 Section 6 sets state protocol should the federal government legalize marijuana. It provides that Oklahoma's restrictions would not exceed federal restrictions and Oklahoma's quantity limitations would be raised to the federal maximum. It also provides that the Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs will retain its enforcement authority, subject to the legislature's authority to change the responsible agency. Finally, Section 6 states that if the federal government allows interstate transfer, Oklahoma will, too, and authorizes the legislature and governor to permit same. ¶8 Section 7 provides for judicial review and instructs that all rules or regulations made pursuant to Article 32 must comply with the Oklahoma Administrative Procedures Act. Section 8 empowers the legislature to modify specific provisions of Article 32 by supermajority vote and others by simple-majority vote. Section 9 is a severability clause. Section 10 provides that Article 32 will be effective immediately upon passage. Section 11 contains a list of definitions. Standard of Review ¶9 Oklahoma citizens "may protest the sufficiency and legality of an initiative petition." In re State Question No. 807, Initiative Petition No. 423, 2020 OK 57, ¶ 11, 468 P.3d 383, 388 (per curiam) (internal citations omitted). Upon protest, the Court must review the petition to ensure its compliance "with the rights and restrictions established by the Oklahoma Constitution, legislative enactments, and this Court's jurisprudence." Id., 468 P.3d at 388 (internal citations omitted). The Court's pre-election review is restricted to determining whether the proposed measure contains "clear or manifest facial constitutional infirmities," and the protestant bears the burden of proof. Id. ¶ 12, 468 P.3d at 388 (internal citations omitted). Analysis ¶10 To the extent we addressed preemption and the validity of state elections in Indian country in companion case No. 119,927, we apply our holdings therein, and reject Petitioner's identical arguments.4 We review the following issues: federal preemption by provisions of (1) the Gun Control Act of 1968, codified at 18 U.S.C. § 922(d)(3), (g)(3) (2018); (2) federal racketeering law, codified at 18 U.S.C. § 1956(a) (2018); § 1957 (2018); and (3) gist sufficiency.5 Federal law does not preempt SQ 819. ¶11 An exercise of state police power will not be found "preempted by federal action unless that is the clear and manifest purpose of Congress." In re State Question No. 807, 2020 OK 57, ¶ 16, 468 P.3d at 389. Congress communicates that purpose in three ways: (1) expressly, (2) by conveying its intent to occupy a field, or (3) by enacting legislation that directly conflicts with state law. ¶12 We first consider the provisions of section 9226 and conclude that it does not preempt SQ 819.7 Congress did not expressly preempt States' ability to legislate gun-control laws in the Gun Control Act of 1968, 18 U.S.C. §§ 921--931 (2018) (the GCA); nor did Congress implicitly convey its intent to occupy the field of gun control therein.8 A direct and positive conflict exists where "compliance with both federal and state law is a physical impossibility . . . or where state law stands as an obstacle to the accomplishment and execution of Congress' full purposes and objectives." Id., ¶ 21, 468 P.3d at 390 (internal citations omitted). Though SQ 819 would authorize conduct subject to federal prosecution, compliance with state law and § 922(d)(3) and (g)(3) would be possible because SQ 819 does not mandate possession of firearms or ammunition by recreational-marijuana users. See id. ¶¶ 23-24, 468 P.3d at 390-91 (analyzing, under the physical-impossibility standard, whether actual conflict would exist between proposed state law and the Controlled Substances Act (CSA)). Further, SQ 819 does not impede the accomplishment and execution of Congress' purposes in enacting the GCA. Congress passed the GCA "to strengthen Federal Controls over interstate and foreign commerce in firearms and to assist the States effectively to regulate firearms traffic within their borders." H.R. Rep. No. 1577, at 2 (1968) as reprinted in 1968 U.S.C.C.A.N. 4410, 4411. SQ 819 does not attempt to alter or weaken the GCA or limit enforcement of federal law by federal agents.9 Any immunity created by SQ 819 applies to prosecution under state law, not federal law. Further, it applies to possession and use of marijuana and marijuana products, not to other activities addressed by the GCA. Moreover, because the federal government cannot force States to criminalize recreational marijuana possession or use, it cannot prevent States from decriminalizing recreational marijuana possession or use. ¶13 Likewise, SQ 819 is not preempted by 18 U.S.C. § 1956(a)10 and § 195711. Petitioner does not explain his claim that § 1957 preempts SQ 819, but he asserts SQ 819 conflicts with § 1956(a) because it will require state officials to participate in money laundering through its excise-tax provisions. In 2020, Petitioner made a similar argument in his challenge to SQ 807; the Court determined that "government entities are not subject to the criminal law provisions of RICO because they cannot form the necessary malicious intent for the predicate acts." In re State Question No. 807, 2020 OK 57, ¶ 38, 468 P.3d at 394. The same is true with respect to § 1956(a) and § 1957. Moreover, Petitioner assumes the State would be involved in a transaction involving "specified unlawful activity." § 1956(a)(1); § 1957(a). Section 1956(c)(7) defines "specified unlawful activity."12 That definition references the CSA--first, regarding offenses against a foreign nation for financial transactions in the United States, § 1956(c)(7)(B)(i), and second, regarding "any act or acts constituting a continuing criminal enterprise." § 1956(c)(7)(C). But the CSA provides immunity to "any duly authorized officer of any State, territory, political subdivision thereof, the District of Columbia, or any possession of the United States, who shall be lawfully engaged in the enforcement of any law or municipal ordinance relating to controlled substances." 21 U.S.C. § 885(d) (2018). Therefore, the State's enforcement of Article 32 would not meet the definition of "specified unlawful activity." ¶14 Further, the illegality of an activity does not bar its taxation. In re State Question No. 807, 2020 OK 57, ¶ 39, 468 P.3d at 395 (collecting cases). Because the State's excise tax would be lawful, so would its appropriation of tax revenue. Id. ¶ 40, 468 P.3d at 395 ("[I]t is axiomatic that if the states and federal government are permitted to tax illegal activity, they are permitted to use the resulting revenue."). Thus, § 1956(a) and § 1957 do not preempt SQ 819. Challenge to the Gist ¶15 Under 34 O.S.2021, § 3, https://govt.westlaw.com/okjc (follow hyperlink titled "General Provisions"), "[a] simple statement of the gist of the proposition shall be printed on the top margin of each signature sheet." The gist statement "must be brief, descriptive of the effect of the proposition, not deceiving but informative and revealing of the design and purpose of the petition." In re Initiative Petition No. 344, State Question No. 630, 1990 OK 75, ¶ 14, 797 P.2d 326 , 330; see also In re State Question No. 820, Initiative Petition No. 434, 2022 OK 30, ¶ 6, __ P.3d __ (declaring the "'gist must present an outline, or rough sketch, of what the initiative petition will accomplish,'" informing prospective signers "of the 'potential effects' so those signers understand the changes that would be made to Oklahoma's statutory code." (internal citations omitted)). The proposed gist follows: The Oklahoma Marijuana Regulation and Right to Use Act This constitutional amendment: grants the right to use marijuana to persons 21 years of age and older; establishes individual patient, professional, privacy, employment, medical, parental, student, firearm ownership, state-licensure, and due process rights; has a fiscal impact and pays for itself with taxes on marijuana sales; sets a tax rate of 15% on marijuana sales, except for persons with a medical marijuana patient or caregiver license; directs surplus revenue to pay for education, local and military veterans mental health programs, programs for families with disabled children, rural water infrastructure, law enforcement training, research, marijuana waste clean-up, and agricultural damage insurance, and individual criminal record expungement; adapts to future federal legalization of marijuana, including a 3% wholesale export tax; allows persons with minor marijuana convictions to apply for resentencing, vacatur and/or expungement; provides for judicial review, severability and provides definitions of terms used in this amendment; becomes effective upon passage and provides time for implementation. (emphasis added). ¶16 Petitioner argues that SQ 819's gist is insufficient and misleading because it does not warn voters of federal criminal consequences for marijuana possession and use. We rejected Petitioner's argument regarding SQ 818 because the gist sufficiently explained changes to be made to Oklahoma law. Likewise, we reject Petitioner's argument that the gist must describe federal consequences. However, we conclude the gist insufficiently informs voters of Section 5's effect on Oklahoma law. ¶17 The gist fails to describe two significant effects of Section 5: (1) the bypass of judicial process for resentencing, modification, reversal, dismissal, expungement, or vacatur; and (2) the automatic and absolute restoration of firearm-ownership and voting rights upon completed expungement. As written, the gist misleads potential signatories to believe SQ 819 adheres to established judicial process. In reality, it does not provide for a procedure whereby the State may object to resentencing, modification, reversal, dismissal, expungement, or vacatur. Section 5(4) provides: "Upon receiving a petition, the court shall presume the petitioner satisfies the criteria . . . and without delay resentence or reverse the conviction as legally invalid, modify the judgment and sentence, or expunge and vacate the charges."13 Similarly, the gist misleads potential signatories about its effect on a petitioner's firearm-ownership and voting rights. The gist explains that SQ 819 "establishes individual . . . firearm ownership . . . rights" but does not address voting rights nor the process for restoring either the possession of firearms or voting rights. Section 5(5) provides: "A completed expungement [of marijuana related felony convictions] shall automatically restore the person's rights to possess and use firearms. A completed expungement of marijuana related felony convictions shall also automatically restore the person's right to vote." Not only does this provision deviate from established practice by automatically restoring these significant rights, it further delegates authority to the trial court dependent only upon a completed expungement. Moreover, restoration is absolute, unqualified, and does not take into account whether a petitioner has other non-marijuana-related felony convictions.14 The above-mentioned omissions and scant explanations regarding fundamental deviations from established practice, render the gist deceitful and insufficiently informative with respect to the effect of Section 5 on Oklahoma law. 15 Under the severability clause in Section 9, the Court severs Section 516 and strikes the portion of the gist referencing its provisions.17 ¶18 The remaining gist, although not all-encompassing,18 informs potential signatories "'of what the measure is generally intended to do'" without "'the taint of misleading terms or deceitful language.'" In re Initiative Petition No. 426, State Question No. 810, 2020 OK 44, ¶¶ 6, 7, 465 P.3d 1259, 1262, 1263; see also In re Initiative Petition No. 409, State Question No. 785, 2016 OK 51, ¶ 3, 376 P.3d 250, 252 ("The gist . . . is 'not required to contain every regulatory detail so long as its outline is not incorrect.'" (internal citation omitted)). Thus, we assume original jurisdiction and hold SQ 819, as severed, is legally sufficient for submission to Oklahomans for voting. INITIATIVE PETITION NO. 819, STATE QUESTION NO. 433, BY SEVERING SECTION 5 AND PORTIONS OF THE GIST REFERENCING SECTION 5, IS LEGALLY SUFFICIENT TO SUBMIT TO THE PEOPLE OF OKLAHOMA. DARBY, C.J., KAUGER, WINCHESTER, EDMONDSON, COMBS, AND GURICH, JJ., CONCUR; KANE, V.C.J. DISSENTS (BY SEPARATE WRITING); ROWE, J. CONCURS IN PART; DISSENTS IN PART (BY SEPARATE WRITING), KUEHN, J., CONCURS IN PART; DISSENTS IN PART. FOOT