Federal judge intervenes in county's effort to starve pot farms of water

The Los Angeles Times reported yesterday from Siskiyou County, California, where local officials had taken steps to cut off water to cannabis grows of Hmong farmers. The reasoning behind a federal judge's intervention in the local government decision:  the county had not taken such steps when the illegal pot grows were by white folks.  

Here's an excerpt from the story Alex Wigglesworth and Anh Do: 

In the spring of this year, county supervisors effectively outlawed the transportation of water into a rural tract that had become known for its prolific cultivation of pot, squalid living conditions and large population of Hmong farmers.

The measure was just the latest attempt by local officials to shut down the pot farms, which authorities blamed for a spike in violent crime and environmental degradation.

This time however, as the Lava fire tore through the countryside, Siskiyou County’s crackdown would erupt in violence and draw national attention to a bitter conflict involving race, water and the legalization of marijuana. It would also cause a federal court judge to openly question the county’s motives for implementing such harsh measures, coming as they were at a time of severe drought, record heat and extreme risk of wildfires.

“The dehydration and de facto expulsion of a disfavored minority community cannot be the price paid in an effort to stop illegal cannabis cultivation and any attendant harms,” wrote Judge Kimberly J. Mueller of the Eastern District of California.

More on California's water crisis and the black market for water sales that the crisis has spawned is here.  Earlier posts about Siskiyou County's Hmong pot farmers are here and here.