Gonzalez Vs Raich Case Summary

Marijuana has been a popular topic throughout decades. In 1996, California legalized marijuana use for “seriously ill” medical patients. In August 2012, County Sheriffs and DEA agents raided Angel McClary Raichs house where she was growing six marijuana plants. The marijuana plants were confiscated and destroyed by Alberto R. Gonzales. These events caused a case (Gonzalez v. Raich) debating can congress regulate a homegrown product that has never and may never enter interstate. The case raised questions about marijuana use for medical purposes and the fourth amendment that guarantees privacy rights. The officers in this case Gonzalez v. Raich violated the patients 4th amendments rights because they violated their medical privacy something the

Ashcroft, was heard in 2003 by the District Court and was rejected an action for an initial order. Although they were rejected the first time, Raich and Monson took their case to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. The divided panel ruled in favor of the women, believing that the "CSA is an unconstitutional exercise of Congress' Commerce Clause authority." Though, the government appealed the ruling and the case came under the attention of Supreme Court under the name, Gonzales v. Raich. The Supreme Court had to settle whether Congress' power to control interstate markets for medicinal substances included "the portions of those markets that are supplied with drugs produced and consumed locally." On June 6th, 2005, the Supreme Court ruled 6-3 in favor of the government.

Justice O'Connor, who was one of the three judges against the ruling, didn’t agree with the majority's ruling. She claims that the majority opinion crushes all hope for the "experiment" of medical marijuana to fully be tested. She explained that Congress had provided no evidence that medical marijuana significantly affects interstate commerce; Justice O'Connor thinks the decision was unfair to defendants (Angel Raich and Diane Monson) who need the drug to support their