The Initiative 65 Ruling — May 14, 2021

Last verified: May 2026

The Pre-Election Lawsuit

Days before the November 2020 election, Madison Mayor Mary Hawkins Butler — who told SuperTalk Mississippi host Paul Gallo that she did not want "pot shops" in her city — filed In re Initiative Measure No. 65 (No. 2020-IA-01199-SCT) in the Mississippi Supreme Court. Her lawyer had "found the flaw" in Section 273(3) of the Mississippi Constitution: the 1992 ballot-initiative provision required signatures equally from each of the state’s five congressional districts, but Mississippi has had only four congressional districts since the 2000 Census reduced the state’s House delegation.

The Voter Mandate

On November 3, 2020, voters answered the lawsuit with overwhelming support for the initiative:

• 69% voted yes on the threshold question of whether to enact a medical cannabis program at all.
• 74% chose Initiative 65 — the broad, citizen-drafted version — over Initiative 65A, the legislature’s competing, far more restrictive alternative.

Initiative 65 named 22 qualifying conditions and capped retail at the standard 7% sales tax. It would have constitutionalized a working medical cannabis program by July 2021.

The May 14, 2021 Decision

On May 14, 2021, in a 6–3 decision authored by Justice Josiah Coleman, the Mississippi Supreme Court agreed with Mayor Butler:

"Whether with intent, by oversight, or for some other reason, the drafters of section 273(3) wrote a ballot-initiative process that cannot work in a world where Mississippi has fewer than five representatives in Congress. To work in today’s reality, it will need amending — something that lies beyond the power of the Supreme Court."

In a single ruling the Court:

• Voided Initiative 65.
• Invalidated the entire citizen ballot-initiative process for any future use.

Justice Maxwell’s Dissent

Justice James Maxwell, in dissent, wrote that "through its actions, not only is this particular initiative dead, but so is Mississippi’s citizen-initiative process." Maxwell’s dissent argued for an interpretation that would have preserved both the initiative and the broader citizen-initiative mechanism. He was joined by two other justices in dissent; the 6–3 majority adopted Justice Coleman’s strict-textual reading.

The MSMA / AMA Amicus Briefs

Notably, the Mississippi State Medical Association (MSMA) and the American Medical Association (AMA) filed amicus briefs supporting Mayor Butler’s challenge. Those institutional voices — combined with the Mississippi Baptist Convention’s political opposition to broad medical cannabis — provided the cover Madison’s mayor needed to sustain the legal challenge through to the favorable ruling.

Public Reaction — Bipartisan Outrage

The Initiative 65 ruling produced rare bipartisan outrage in Mississippi. A Chism Strategies poll of 905 Mississippians, as reported by Mississippi Today on May 18, 2021, found that:

• 60.9% opposed the Supreme Court’s decision.
• 22.3% supported it.

A group calling itself "We Are the 74" rallied at the Capitol on May 25, 2021. Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann, House Speaker Philip Gunn, and a bipartisan supermajority of legislators pushed Governor Tate Reeves to call a special session. Reeves resisted; he declined to call a session in 2021, and the bill ultimately moved through the regular 2022 session as SB 2095. See SB 2095 history.

Five Years Later — The Ruling Stands

Five years after the May 2021 ruling, the citizen ballot-initiative process in Mississippi remains dead. Multiple legislative sessions have failed to fix Section 273(3). A 2026 attempt, SCR 518 (sponsored by Sen. Brice Wiggins, R-Pascagoula), would set a 10% registered-voter signature threshold (~170,000 signatures) and a one-third per-district cap. As of April 2026, SCR 518 remained alive but had not passed. See dead initiative process page.

The Broader Implication

Mississippi remains one of the few states in the country with no functioning citizen-initiative mechanism. This means that any future Mississippi cannabis reform — including any path to recreational legalization — must come through the legislature alone. The 74% voter mandate of November 2020 cannot be repeated through a different ballot question; it can only be invoked rhetorically. The structural reform priority for cannabis (and for many other public-policy areas) is restoration of the initiative process itself.

Reading the Decision

• Mississippi Supreme Court — Court Decisions
• In re Initiative Measure No. 65, No. 2020-IA-01199-SCT (Miss. May 14, 2021)