Arizona, State of et al v. United States of America et al

Filing 66

RESPONSE in Opposition re 60 MOTION for Hearing on Motion re 38 MOTION to Dismiss for Lack of Jurisdiction, 31 MOTION to Intervene as Co-Plaintiffs by: A. Maricopa County; and B. Joy Rich in her official capacity as Assistant County Manager and Director of Maricopa MOTION for Leave to File Brief in Opposition to Defendants' Motion to Dismiss filed by Dennis K Burke, Eric Himpton Holder, Jr, United States Department of Justice, United States of America. (Attachments: # 1 Text of Proposed Order)(Risner, Scott)

TONY WEST

1 Assistant Attorney General

ARTHUR R. GOLDBERG

2 Assistant Branch Director

SCOTT RISNER (MI Bar #P70762)

3 Trial Attorney

United States Department of Justice

4 Civil Division, Federal Programs Branch

20 Massachusetts Avenue, N.W.

5 Washington, D.C. 20530

Telephone: [phone]

6 Facsimile: [phone]
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[e-mail]
Attorney for Defendants United States,

8 U.S. Department of Justice, Eric H. Holder,
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and Ann Birmingham Scheel
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
DISTRICT OF ARIZONA

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11 State of Arizona, et al.,

No. 2:11-cv-01072-SRB

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FEDERAL DEFENDANTS’
OPPOSITION TO PROSPECTIVE
INTERVENORS’ MOTION FOR
ORAL ARGUMENT AND LEAVE TO
FILE A BRIEF IN OPPOSITION TO
DEFENDANTS’ MOTION TO
DISMISS

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Plaintiffs,
vs.

14 United States of America, et al.,
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Defendants.

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The United States of America, the U.S. Department of Justice, Attorney General

18 Eric H. Holder, and Acting United States Attorney Ann Birmingham Scheel (collectively
19 the “Federal Defendants”) hereby file this opposition to the relief requested in Proposed
20 Intervenors Maricopa County and Joy Rich’s Motion for Oral Argument on Motion to
21 Intervene and Leave to File a Brief in Opposition to Defendants’ Motion to Dismiss.
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As has been noted by the non-governmental defendants, see ECF 65, Proposed

23 Intervenors’ motion is untimely and without good grounds. Rather than requesting oral
24 argument in their motion to intervene in July, they waited until December 14, 2011, two
25 days after the parties had already convened before this Court. They now ask this Court to
26 allow them to respond to dispositive motions in a case to which they are not yet parties,
27 months after the actual parties have completed briefing on the motions. And they attempt
28 to use their motion, and a subsequent errata, both to take new legal positions and repeat

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old legal arguments. Those arguments fail to establish jurisdiction, for the reasons the
defendants have already set forth, and attempting to raise them at this stage does not
warrant scheduling a new argument that will burden the Court and the parties and further
delay resolution of the defendants’ pending motions.
Dated: December 20, 2011.

Respectfully submitted,
TONY WEST
Assistant Attorney General
ARTHUR R. GOLDBERG
Assistant Branch Director
Federal Programs Branch
/s/ Scott Risner
SCOTT RISNER (MI Bar #P70762)
Trial Attorney
United States Department of Justice
Civil Division, Federal Programs Branch
20 Massachusetts Avenue, N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20530
Telephone: [phone]
Facsimile: [phone]
[e-mail]
Attorneys for Defendants United States,
U.S. Department of Justice, Eric H. Holder,
and Ann Birmingham Scheel

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CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE

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I hereby certify that on December 20, 2011, I electronically transmitted the

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attached document to the Clerk’s Office using the CM/ECF System for filing and

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transmittal of a Notice of Electronic Filing to the following CM/ECF registrants:

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Aubrey Joy Corcoran, Kevin D. Ray, and Lori Simpson Davis
Office of the Attorney General
1275 W. Washington St.
Phoenix, AZ 85007
Attorneys for Plaintiffs

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Ezekiel R. Edwards
ACLU Foundation, Criminal Law Reform Project
125 Broad St., 18th Floor
New York, NY 10004-2400
Attorney for Defendant Arizona Medical Marijuana Association

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Daniel Joseph Pochoda
ACLU Foundation of Arizona
77 E. Columbus St., Ste. 205
Phoenix, AZ 85012
Attorney for Defendant Arizona Medical Marijuana Association

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Thomas W. Dean
323 N Leroux St., Ste. 101
Flagstaff , AZ 86001
Attorney for Defendant Arizona Association of Dispensary Professionals
Ken Frakes
Rose Law Group, PC
6613 N. Scottsdale Road, Suite 200
Scottsdale, AZ 85250
[e-mail]
Attorney for Defendants Serenity Arizona, Holistic Health Management, Levine,
Pennypacker, Flores, Christensen, Pollock and Silva
Thomas P. Liddy
Maricopa County Attorney’s Office
Civil Services Division
222 N. Central Ave., Ste. 1100
Phoenix, AZ 85004
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Attorney for Proposed Intervenor-Plaintiffs Maricopa County and Joy Rich
/s/ Scott Risner
Scott Risner

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