Sometime during the week of December 14, 2009, Merced County Superior Court Judge Brian L. McCabe ruled that the California Department of Motor Vehicles had to pay $69,400 in attorney’s fees to Americans for Safe Access, a non-profit group, in a lawsuit against the DMV for a policy of unjustly revoking derivers’ licenses of qualified medical marijuana patients. The fee award was based upon the private attorney general “catalyst” theory, with Judge McCabe finding that plaintiff’s efforts resulted in a change of DMV policy in the licensure of medical marijuana drivers. More details can be found in Brian Doherty’s December 21, 2009 post on reason.com, in an article entitled “California’s DMV Has to Pay Attorney’s Fees for Revoking Medical Pot Users License.” The article has a link to the superior court’s decision.
