The Alabama Medical Cannabis Commission, at its scheduled August 31 meeting, plans to void the licenses it awarded two weeks ago and then re-award those licenses without entering into executive session, the AMCC said in a court filing on Monday.
Such action, AMCC lawyers contend, would satisfy complaints in a lawsuit filed by Alabama Always and Hornet Medicinals that the commissioners violated Alabama’s Open Meetings Act by holding deliberations and a vote in executive session at its August 10 meeting. Several applicants who didn’t receive licenses have filed lawsuits against AMCC seeking to block the awarding of the licenses since, they contend, the meeting was held illegally.
“Specifically, AMCC requests that the Court continue the preliminary injunction hearing until after August 31, 2023, the date of AMCC’s next scheduled meeting, so that AMCC may address the criticisms unwarrantedly leveled against it by voiding the licenses awarded August 10 and re-awarding licenses without going into executive session,” the filing reads.
It’s unclear if AMCC’s proposed action – to simply re-award the licenses – would satisfy the requirements of the Open Meetings Act, which holds that a public body must hold votes and deliberations in public, except in certain very limited conditions. AMCC held both in private and then simply announced its licensing decisions with little to no public commentary or discussion.
Read more at alreporter.com