U.S. Supreme Court justices are scheduled to meet this week to discuss a much-anticipated case challenging the constitutionality of federal marijuana prohibition—an issue that even one of the bench’s more conservative members, Justice Clarance Thomas, has previously argued must be resolved amid the state legalization movement.
While it remains unclear whether the court will ultimately take up the issue, a number of interested parties have urged action. And justices put the case, Canna Provisions v. Bondi, on the agenda for a closed-door conference meeting on Friday to consider their options.
Massachusetts-based marijuana businesses are asking the court to take their case because they argue federal law unconstitutionally prohibits intrastate cannabis activity, contravening the Commerce Clause.
That issue was raised in amicus briefs filed by supporters of the suit over recent weeks. That includes a public interest law firm representing a man who says federal law infringed on his property rights, libertarian think tank the Cato Institute and the Koch-founded Americans for Prosperity Foundation.
The powerhouse law firm Boies Schiller Flexner LLP submitted their petition for writ of certiorari from the court on behalf of their cannabis industry clients in October, and the Justice Department subsequently declined the opportunity to file a brief
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