The question posed in Tuesday's debate between the two candidates for California attorney general seemed simple enough.
If California voters pass Proposition 19, the initiative to legalize marijuana for recreational use, would they defend it court?
Neither Democrat Kamala Harris, the San Francisco district attorney, nor Republican Steve Cooley, the Los Angeles district attorney, could muster a "yes" or a "no."
But Cooley, a persistent critic of California's already burgeoning medical marijuana industry, strongly suggested he won't be carrying the banner for Proposition 19 as a defender of voter-approved recreational weed.
"I really am strongly opposed to Proposition 19 for many reasons," Cooley said during the debate at the University of California, Davis. "I would be inclined to advise that it is unconstitutional and preempted by federal law."
Harris said she would convene state, federal and local law enforcement officials to review the initiative's impact on public safety and discuss how they believe "implementation should look." But she didn't particularly leap forward with a pledge to defend it.
"I believe that if it were to pass, it would be incumbent on the attorney general to convene her top lawyers and the experts on constitutional law to do a full analysis of the constitutionality of that measure...and what action, if any, should follow."
Watch their their full answers to the question in the video clip below:
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