“The Office has acquired inquiries as to why it is supporting this constitutional amendment when, in point, it is not.”
By Hunter Field, Arkansas Advocate
The Town of Small Rock very last 7 days sent a cease-and-desist letter to the group sponsoring Arkansas’s leisure marijuana ballot initiative demanding the team choose down an advert the metropolis claimed depicted Small Rock law enforcement officers.
Dependable Progress Arkansas in a reaction Friday declined to get rid of the ad and disagreed that it contained any insignia or emblem that determined the Minimal Rock Police Division.
The professional medical cannabis market-backed group has been functioning television advertisements to guidance the campaign to move Problem 4 on November 8. It has also posted an ad on the homepage of its web-site.
“Unfortunately, at minimum a single of the commercials has parts which display Little Rock police officers,” Town Lawyer Tom Carpenter wrote. “Neither the Town, nor the Small Rock Police Division has endorsed this effort. The movie footage remaining employed is from education films that had been made to catch the attention of people to join the law enforcement pressure. The Office has obtained inquiries as to why it is supporting this constitutional amendment when, in simple fact, it is not.”
The advert contains footage of a police automobile and several photographs of law enforcement officers, but it is tricky to convey to what company they stand for.
Liable Development emphasised its assistance for regulation enforcement, but it declined to get rid of the ad, indicating it did not suggest an endorsement from LRPD.
“As for the advertisement in concern, we have reviewed it and do not see any insignia, brand or other identification of the Minor Rock Law enforcement Department—or any other legislation enforcement company, for that issue,” attorney Erika Gee wrote. “Moreover, the video utilised in generation of the ad was taken from community resources which offered no claim that the online video is protected from community use. As these, we see no lawful basis for the demand from customers that RGA stop and desist from even more use of this online video.”
Accountable Expansion has portrayed its proposal as pro-law enforcement. The amendment’s key function is to legalize hashish for adult use, but it would also direct a part of the tax earnings to regulation enforcement.
Carpenter did not quickly respond to a problem Wednesday morning about irrespective of whether the metropolis would take further legal motion.
This story was first posted by Arkansas Advocate.