The Justice Department is declining the opportunity to file a brief on whether the U.S. Supreme Court should take up a case from marijuana businesses that are challenging the constitutionality of federal prohibition.
In a filing submitted to the court on Monday, U.S. Solicitor General D. John Sauer, who was appointed by President Donald Trump, said simply: "The Government hereby waives its right to file a response to the petition in this case, unless requested to do so by the Court."
This comes about a month after the powerhouse law firm Boies Schiller Flexner LLP submitted a petition for writ of certiorari from the court on behalf of their clients—a coalition of cannabis companies—who are arguing that the Commerce Clause of the U.S. Constitution precludes the federal government from enforcing criminalization laws against intrastate marijuana activity.
Massachusetts-based marijuana companies and industry leaders Canna Provisions, Gyasi Sellers, Wiseacre Farm and Verano Holdings are asking justices to reevaluate a landmark 2005 case, Gonzales v. Raich, wherein the Supreme Court narrowly determined that the federal government could enforce prohibition against cannabis cultivation that took place wholly within California based on Congress's authority to regulate interstate commerce.
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