July 18th, 2002. In a unanimous ruling, the California Supreme Court granted medical marijuana patients powerful legal protection against state prosecution for possession and cultivation of marijuana. The court ruled that Prop. 215 is more than just a criminal defense but also provides qualified immunity from prosecution.

Patient cultivator Jason Browne has filed a complaint against Sonoma County sheriff’s deputies Steven Gossett and Andrea Salas for raiding and destroying his medical garden on July 18th, the same day as the Mower decision. Browne, who had been involved in efforts to establish legal medical gardens in Humboldt County, charges that the deputies falsified his record to obtain the search warrant, wrongly claiming that he had been arrested and charged for prior marijuana violations.

Information courtesy of CANORML.org.