Ashcroft v. Raich is an ongoing case in the Supreme Court of the United States, which relates to the Commerce Clause of the United States Constitution which allows the United States Congress "To regulate Commerce ... among the several States." Seal of the Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the United States, located in Washington, D.C., is the highest federal court (see supreme court) in the United States; that is, it has ultimate judicial authority within the United States to interpret and decide questions of federal law, including the... Article I, Section 8, Clause 3 of the United States Constitution, known as the Commerce Clause, empowers the United States Congress To regulate Commerce with foreign Nations, and among the several States, and with the Indian Tribes. ... Page I of the Constitution of the United States of America Page II of the United States Constitution Page III of the United States Constitution Page IV of the United States Constitution The Syng inkstand, with which the Constitution was signed The Constitution of the United States is the supreme... The Congress of the United States is the legislative branch of the federal government of the United States of America. ...

John Ashcroft is in the case's name as he was Attorney General when the case was filed. John David Ashcroft (born May 9, 1942) was the 79th Attorney General of the United States. ... The United States Attorney General is the head of the United States Department of Justice concerned with legal affairs and is the chief law enforcement officer of the United States government. ...

The case

The case deals with the Controlled Substances Act and medical marijuana. The fundamental question is: is the Controlled Substances Act a constitutional use of the Commerce Clause of the United States Constitution? The 1942 case Wickard v. Filburn is cited as an important influence. The Controlled Substances Act (CSA), Title II of the Comprehensive Drug Abuse Prevention and Control Act of 1970, is the legal foundation of the United States governments fight against the abuse of drugs and other substances. ... Medical marijuana refers to the use of marijuana, a form of cannabis as a therapy or prescription drug, most notably as an anti-emetic. ... Page I of the Constitution of the United States of America Page II of the United States Constitution Page III of the United States Constitution Page IV of the United States Constitution The Syng inkstand, with which the Constitution was signed The Constitution of the United States is the supreme... 1942 was a common year starting on Thursday (link will take you to calendar). ... Wickard v. ...

Background

California passed a medical marijuana act in Proposition 215 of 1996. The federal government opposes all use of medical marijuana. State nickname: The Golden State Other U.S. States Capital Sacramento Largest city Los Angeles Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger Official languages English Area 410,000 km² (3rd)  - Land 404,298 km²  - Water 20,047 km² (4. ... Proposition 215 was a proposition in the state of California on the November 5, 1996 ballot. ... 1996 is a leap year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International Year for the Eradication of Poverty. ...

The case of Angel Raich and Diane Monson against the government

Angel Raich of Oakland, California, Diane Monson of Oroville, California, and two anonymous caregivers sued the government on October 9, 2002 to stop the government from interfering with their right to medical marijuana. Ashcroft v. ... Aerial view looking west over downtown Oakland, Lake Merritt and the Port of Oakland in the upper left portion of the image. ... Oroville is the county seat of Butte County, California. ... October 9 is the 282nd day of the year (283rd in Leap years). ... 2002 is a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

The marijuana Angel Raich uses is homegrown, and is thus allowed under California law, but not under federal law. Diane Monson grew her own in her garden. Agents of the federal Drug Enforcement Administration raided her land and seized and destroyed her marijuana crop in August 2002. Raich and Monson sued for injunctive and declaratory relief in October 2002, claiming that the Controlled Substances Act is not constitutional as applied to their conduct. Since 1973, the DEA has enforced the drug laws in the United States. ... 2002 : January - February - March - April - May - June - July - August - September - October - November - December A timeline of events in the news for August, 2002. ... An injunction is an equitable remedy in the form of a court order that either prohibits or compels (enjoins or restrains) a party from continuing a particular activity. ... Declaratory relief is a judges determination (called a declaratory judgment) of the parties rights under a contract or a statute, often requested (and highly desired) in a lawsuit over a contract. ... 2002 : January - February - March - April - May - June - July - August - September - October - November - December A timeline of events in the news for October, 2002. ...

The US Federal Government's power within states is limited by the Commerce Clause of the United States Constitution, which grants only the power to regulate "commerce", and only commerce that occurs between or "...among the several States, ..." or countries. Raich argues that her conduct of possessing medical marijuana and receiving it for free from compassionate gardeners is not commerce. Neither she nor Monson pays for their marijuana, and neither gets it from another state. Even the soil, seeds, nutrients, lumber, and such used to grow the marijuana are obtained from California. Article I, Section 8, Clause 3 of the United States Constitution, known as the Commerce Clause, empowers the United States Congress To regulate Commerce with foreign Nations, and among the several States, and with the Indian Tribes. ... Page I of the Constitution of the United States of America Page II of the United States Constitution Page III of the United States Constitution Page IV of the United States Constitution The Syng inkstand, with which the Constitution was signed The Constitution of the United States is the supreme...

Angel Raich claims she uses marijuana to keep herself alive. She and her doctor have claim to have tried dozens of prescription medicines for her numerous medical conditions, and she is allergic to most of them. Her doctor declared under oath (http://www.angeljustice.org/downloads/raichashlucido.pdf) that her life is at stake if she cannot continue to use marijuana. Diane Monson suffers from chronic pain due to a car accident a decade ago. She uses marijuana to relieve the pain and muscle spasms around her spine.

The government's case

The United States Federal law, via the Controlled Substances Act, does not recognize and opposes medical marijuana. They sent federal agents to break up California's medical marijuana co-ops and seize their assets. They feel federal law supersedes that of California. Another argument is that if a single exception is made to the Controlled Substances Act, it will become unenforceable in practice. Federal law is the body of law created by the federal government of a nation. ... The Controlled Substances Act (CSA), Title II of the Comprehensive Drug Abuse Prevention and Control Act of 1970, is the legal foundation of the United States governments fight against the abuse of drugs and other substances. ...

The United States is a federation, with most powers in the state governments. Many expansions of federal power that started during the New Deal in the 1930s were struck down by the Supreme Court of the United States, until President Franklin Delano Roosevelt unsuccessfully tried to double the number of judges on the Court (the court packing scheme), and fill it with sympathetic judges. The Court found excuses for upholding new expansions of federal power. Wickard v. Filburn was one of these cases, which ruled that federal crop price controls reached even the wheat grown on a rural farm to be fed to the owners and their farm animals. The rationale was that growing your own wheat is "commerce" because if you didn't grow it, you would have had to buy it from someone. This case stood as the tombstone on the "limited" commerce power for sixty years, until the 1990s when several small federal laws were struck down as exceeding the commerce power. A federation (from the Latin fœdus, covenant) is a state comprised of a number of self-governing regions (often themselves referred to as states) united by a central (federal) government. ... The New Deal was President Franklin D. Roosevelts legislative agenda for rescuing the United States from the Great Depression. ... Events and trends Technology Jet engine invented First atom was split with a particle accelerator Golden Age of radio begins in U.S. Disney adopts a three-color Technicolor process for cartoons First Kit Kat in UK The photocopier is invented by Carlson Air mail service across the Atlantic Science... Seal of the Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the United States, located in Washington, D.C., is the highest federal court (see supreme court) in the United States; that is, it has ultimate judicial authority within the United States to interpret and decide questions of federal law, including the... Franklin Delano Roosevelt (January 30, 1882–April 12, 1945), 32nd President of the United States, the longest-serving holder of the office and the only man to be elected President more than twice, was one of the central figures of 20th century history. ... Court packing is the name given to President Franklin Delano Roosevelts plan to create a judiciary more favorable to his New Deal policies. ... Wickard v. ... Events and trends Technology The World Wide Web was born at CERN Explosive growth of the Internet; decrease in the cost of computers and other technology Reduction in size and cost of mobile phones leads to a massive surge in their popularity Year 2000 problem (commonly known as Y2K) Microsoft...

Litigation

On December 16, 2003, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals granted a prelimary injunction to prevent the federal government from interfering with Angel and Diane. Part of their ruling follows: December 16 is the 350th day of the year (351st in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 2003 is a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit is a federal court with appellate jurisdiction over the following United States district courts: District of Alaska District of Arizona Central, Eastern, Northern, and Southern Districts of California District of Guam District of Hawaii District of Idaho District of Montana... An injunction is an equitable remedy in the form of a court order that either prohibits or compels (enjoins or restrains) a party from continuing a particular activity. ...

We find that the appellants have demonstrated a strong likelihood of success on their claim that, as applied to them, the CSA [note: the Controlled Substances Act] is an unconstitutional exercise of Congress' Commerce Clause authority.

Conclusions

All legal briefs have been filed. Oral argument occurred on November 29, 2004 (transcript (http://www.angeljustice.org/downloads/Raich%20Supreme%20Court%20Transcript%20Nov2904.pdf)). A decision is expected by spring. November 29 is the 333rd (in leap years the 334th) day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 2004 is a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

See also:

• Wickard v. Filburn
• United States v. Stewart - A current Supreme Court case which is pending the results of the Raich case

Wickard v. ... United States v. ...

External links and references

(opposing the government)

• Pot Shots on Counterpunch.org (http://www.counterpunch.org/gardner11272004.html) Journalistic article on the arguments, case.
• Angel Raich's web site on the case (http://angeljustice.org/). Includes all the legal briefs (http://www.angeljustice.org/article.php?list=type&type=11)
• raich-v-ashcroft.com. Older Angel Raich site.
• A Drug Policy Alliance article on the case (http://www.drugpolicy.org/library/113004abrahamson.cfm)

(favoring the government)

• Federal government's legal brief to the Supreme Court (from Angel's web site) (http://www.angeljustice.org/downloads/Ashcrofts%20Merit%20Brief%20Sup%20Court.pdf)
• Amicus brief from Drug Free America Foundation and others (submitted to Supreme Court) (from Angel's web site) (http://www.angeljustice.org/downloads/Drug%20Free%20America%20brief.pdf)