It's certainly possible in this case: There shouldn't be any problem with "actions strictly prior to a law being passed" -- the US Constitution frowns on _ex po

It's certainly possible in this case: There shouldn't be any problem with "actions strictly prior to a law being passed" -- the US Constitution frowns on _ex post facto_ punishments -- but everything described in the article is only legal under state, not federal law. An aggressive attorney general could therefore decide to prosecute them as federal criminals. It's happened before; see, e.g., Gonzales vs Raich.