State cannabis regulators overstepped their authority and the constitutional rights of licensed hemp stores when they used heavy-handed tactics to conduct warrantless raids of the shops, according to a court ruling issued Monday.
The ruling by state Supreme Court Justice Thomas Marcelle also found that the New York City Sheriff's Office lacked the legal authority to conduct regulatory raids of licensed hemp stores without a court-authorized search warrant and must cease doing so.
The searing decision, which includes issuing a temporary restraining order against the state Office of Cannabis Management and the New York City Sheriff's Office, also directed state regulators to limit their inspections of those stores to no more than two unarmed inspectors, unless they identify a "specific credible documented security concern associated with the particular business that they are inspecting."
Joshua S. Bauchner, a New York City attorney for the petitioners in the case, said the ruling "vindicates the rights of hemp licensees across the state — often small, family-owned businesses — who are struggling against government overreach subjecting them to armed raids, seizure of lawful product, and labeling them as criminals, all without constitutional protections."
Read more at Times Union