The Michigan Court of Appeals ruled today that Detroit violated its "clear legal duty" to put before voters a proposal that would have

.

The court, in a 2-1 ruling, said the city clerk and election commission illegally blocked Detroit voters from considering the proposal, which would have amended the city code to legalize possession of less than an ounce of marijuana by adults on private property.

Tim Beck, who organized the effort to put the issue before voters, called the ruling "a victory for voter's rights in Detroit."

While his group collected more than enough signatures to put the proposal on the ballot,

in August of 2010, suggesting the city cannot allow a behavior that state law prohibits.

"They basically used junk law to keep us off the ballot," Beck told MLive.com this morning. "We dotted every i. Crossed every t. We had amost double the amount of signatures we need, and they said they weren't going to do it, that in essence rule of law does not apply to things they don't like."

Barring an appeal to the State Supreme Court, Beck expects the city will be forced to put the proposal on the ballot for the upcoming August primary.

Beck's group,

, acknowledges that state and federal law both trump city code -- and that Detroit police could still charge a marijuana user under state law if they choose.

But they hope that amending the city could would send a message to local officials: "The City of Detroit has so few resources to deal with real crime -- robbery, murder, vandalism, breaking and entering -- we don't have time for this," Beck said.