The state of Arkansas served notice today that it would ask the Arkansas Supreme Court to review Circuit Judge Wendell Griffen’s order declaring the award of five medical marijuana cultivation permits null and void.
Griffen found violations of the administrative procedures act, including the appearance of a conflict of interest on the part of two commissioners. He also said the state couldn’t claim sovereign immunity in a suit filed by Naturalis Health, one of the unsuccessful permit applications. Several other applicants have filed motions to intervene in the case.
The notice of appeals was filed by the attorney general’s office for the Department of Finance and Administration, its Division of Alcoholic Beverage Control and the Arkansas Medical Marijuana Commission.
It is appealing both a temporary restraining order and a preliminary injunction Griffen issued last week.
Side note: Griffen’s order will be appealed to a court whose members he’s sued for removing him from all death-penalty related cases. One lawyer I spoke with said that should pose no bar to their hearing a case he decided.