Attorneys Joshua S. Bauchner and Jed M. Weiss obtained a Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) on behalf of a State-licensed hemp client permitting it to remove the Scarlet-A incendiary signs posted on its storefronts by the New York Office of Cannabis Management (“OCM”).
The firm is actively defending the rights of numerous State-licensed hemp operators getting caught in the State’s enforcement efforts against unlicensed, illicit marijuana stores. Lawful operators, like our clients, are raided by the OCM which, after a superficial, visual inspection, determines illegality without assessing any documentation confirming all products is legal under the governing Hemp Regulations. Then, the OCM posts a sign on the storefront falsely declaring “Illicit Cannabis Seized” and that “This Business Is Ordered to Stop Illegal Activity.”
The store is labeled a criminal in advance of any hearing or due process protections and then must wait months for an OCM Administrative Law Judge to schedule a hearing and issue a decision while the sign remains — harming the business’s reputation and alarming the public.
Judge Engoron of the New York Supreme Court entered the TRO permitting our client to remove the sign preliminarily finding it violated fundamental dictates of due process.