Pot Law Is Voided--Maybe

YPSILANTI - The status of Ypsilanti's $5 marijuana law is unclear after 14th District Court Judge Thomas F. Shea this morning ruled the local law unconstitutional. Shea originally ruled the controversial ordinance - which imposes the same maximum fine of $5 as does Ann Arbor's - void in July. But that ruling was overturned a month later in Washtenaw Circuit Court by Judge Patrick J. Conlin. Shea, however, indicated prior to today's ruling, that he considered Conlin's decision wrong. Thus, the conflict between Shea's ruling in a lower court and Conlin's judgment in a higher court will apparently be resolved on appeal back to Circuit Court. In delivering his ruling, Shea compared a local ordinance taking precedence over state law as "the tail wagging the dog principle." He ruled that the Michigan Controlled Substance Act of 1971 must take supremacy over the Ypsilanti ordinance. Shea suggested that' were the tail wagging the dog principle to be followed to an extreme it could result in a proliferation of local laws throughout the state which would impose lower penalties for even the most serious of criminal offenses, including murder. Shea claimed such a situation could lead to a breakdown of law and order and a destruction of democracy. His ruling came in the case of two Wayne County men, Robin L. Christante and Alan R. Joslin, who were arrested by Ypsilanti police July 31 after officers found approximately 12 ounces of marijuana in their car. Attorney's for Christante and Joslin had requested the charges be dismissed in light of Conlin's ruling. That ruling upheld the validity of Ypsilanti's $5 marijuana law and amended it so as to require Ypsilanti police to take all marijuana cases to the city attorney's office for a decision on whether to prosecute the case under state law or city ordinance. Shea denied a request for dismissal and for the second time in less than three months ruled the local law invalid in its entirety. Assistant Public Defender James Thomas and Ann Arbor lawyer Joel Welber, representing the accused, told Shea they plan an immediate appeal of his ruling to Circuit Court. Shea's ruling pleased Ypsilanti Detective Lt. Bertrand Maxwell who contended that Conlin's earlier ruling still left Ypsilanti police in a bind between conflicting state and local laws. Maxwell said he would like to see the case finally resolved one way or another so that officers are not attempting to enforce a legal "gray area." Contacted by The News prior to Shea's ruling, Judge Conlin said he does not believe that his ruling can in essence be overturned by Shea. "I would think that my ruling would preclude Judge Shea contradicting me ... The whole thing sounds stupid to me."