Should states be able to file law suits against another state based on individual state laws?
On Monday, March 7th the U.S. Supreme Court was supposed to make a decision if it would even hear a lawsuit brought against Colorado by neighboring Nebraska and Oklahoma over marijuana legalization.
Both states are claiming that “the State of Colorado has created a dangerous gap in the federal drug control system … Marijuana flows from this gap into neighboring states, undermining Plaintiff States’ own marijuana bans, draining their treasuries, and placing stress on their criminal justice systems.”
Because the lawsuit involves a dispute between states, it was filed directly to the Supreme Court and the first step in the lawsuit is for the justices to decide whether they even want to consider the suit, but even the U.S. government has taken Colorado’s side in this dispute and is urging the Supreme Court to not hear a major challenge to the state’s recreational cannabis laws.
With the now late Justice Antonin Scalia, there’s a high probability that the Supreme Court may not make a decision on such a high-profile case while operating with only eight justices. This bodes well for Colorado as the case may not make the docket until another justice is appointed or may simply get dismissed as the remaining eight justices choose not to consider it.