Retroactivity of New Marijuana Law

Even though Michigan voters legalized marijuana in 2018, not all marijuana cases that were pending at the time were dropped. One such case involves Tierra Posey, who was prosecuted by the City of Troy for misdemeanor possession of marijuana. While her case was pending, the drug was legalized, but Troy refused to drop the charges. In 2020 the ACLU of Michigan filed an appeal in Oakland County Circuit Court on Ms. Posey’s behalf. We argued that legalization of marijuana is retroactive as to all cases that were not yet final at the time the new law took effect. In January 2022 Oakland Circuit Judge Rae Lee Chabot ruled in our favor and held that Troy could not punish Ms. Posey for conduct that was perfectly lawful at the time of her sentencing. The city did not appeal and dismissed the charges. (City of Troy v. Posey; ACLU Attorneys Phil Mayor and Dan Korobkin; Cooperating Attorneys Robin Wagner and Robert Palmer of Pitt McGehee Palmer & Rivers; co-counsel Jayesh Patel and Charles Hobbs of Street Democracy.)