Oregon Officials Ask Federal Court To Reverse Ruling That Blocked Marijuana Industry Labor Law Approved By Voters

Oregon officials are asking a federal appeals court to reverse a judge’s
ruling that struck down a voter-approved law to require licensed marijuana
businesses to enter into labor peace agreements with workers and mandate
that employers remain neutral in discussions around unionization.

In a filing with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit last week,
attorneys for Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek (D), Attorney General Dan Rayfield (D)
and Oregon Liquor and Cannabis Commission’s (OLCC) Dennis Doherty and Craig
Prins urged a review of the “constitutional challenge” to the state law.

The officials previously provided notice that they’d be contesting the U.S.
District Court for the District of Oregon decision back in June.

After two marijuana businesses—Bubble’s Hash and Ascend
Dispensary—initially filed a lawsuit in the district court challenging the
implementation of Measure 119, a federal judge sided with the plaintiffs,
finding that the law unconstitutionally restricts free speech and violates
the federal National Labor Relations Act (NLRA).

Under the currently paused law, a marijuana businesses that was unable to
provide proof of a labor peace agreement could have been subject a denial
or revocation of their license.

“The challenged law is constitutional because it does not in fact prohibit
employers from expressing their views on any topic including unionization,
and it therefore does not conflict either with the First Amendment’s
free-speech guarantee or with any substantive protection in the NLRA,” the
latest filing, first reported by Law360, says. “But even if it does affect
employers’ freedom of expression, that effect is permissible under the NLRA
because that federal law does not affirmatively protect employer expression
at all.”

“Further, to the extent the federal law does protect employer expression on
unionization, it leaves room to accommodate local interests in tightly
regulating the marijuana market, which Congress intended to be tightly
regulated,” it continues. “And any effect on expression is also permissible
under the First Amendment because that effect is limited to commercial
speech and survives intermediate scrutiny.”

In an order in May, the district court judge walked through various
components of the legal arguments from both sides and ultimately agreed
that the Oregon law is preempted by the NLRA, which is meant to provide
protections for workers who want to unionize—but specifically preserves the
right for “uninhibited, robust, and wide-open debate in labor disputes.”

By mandating neutrality from employers in labor discussions, that
constitutes a violation of the NLRA, the judge ruled.

But the state is asserting that the federal circuit court “should reverse
the district court’s judgment, and it should remand the case with
instructions to enter judgment for defendants on the preemption and First
Amendment claims.”


*— Marijuana Moment is tracking hundreds of cannabis, psychedelics and drug
policy bills in state legislatures and Congress this year. Patreon
supporters pledging at least $25/month get access to our interactive maps,
charts and hearing calendar so they don’t miss any developments.*


*Learn more about our marijuana bill tracker and become a supporter on
Patreon to get access. —*

On the question of whether the law violates First Amendment protections
under the U.S. Constitution, the cannabis companies argued that “Measure
119 is a content-based restriction on speech that is subject to strict
scrutiny, and that Defendants fail to provide a compelling government
interest requiring this restriction.”

Measure 119 passed with about 57 percent of the vote last November. A
regional chapter of United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW)—UFCW Local
555—had submitted more than 160,000 signatures to qualify the measure for
ballot placement last year.

During the Oregon legislature’s 2023 session, lawmakers declined to enact a
bill containing similar provisions. UFCW lobbied for that legislation, and
it decided to mount a campaign to let voters decide on the issue this year
after that effort failed.

UFCW pressed legislators to enact a bill to codify the labor protections in
2023. And after it was effectively killed by a top House Democrat, it
announced that it would be leading a recall effort to oust him.

*Read the federal court filing in the Oregon marijuana labor laws case
below:*

*Photo courtesy of Mike Latimer.*

The post Oregon Officials Ask Federal Court To Reverse Ruling That Blocked
Marijuana Industry Labor Law Approved By Voters appeared first on Marijuana
Moment.