Clarence Thomas is the longest-serving Justice on the U.S. Supreme Court bench today.
He’s also the most conservative.
Which is why some found it unthinkable what this one High Court opinion made Justice Clarence Thomas do.
The Supreme Court recently decided not to take up a case regarding a Colorado tax dispute.
The case involved the tax status of a cannabis dealer in the Centennial State.
Thomas issued a dissenting statement alongside the Court’s decision to refuse the case.
Justice Clarence Thomas argued that federal laws banning the possession of cannabis no longer made any logical sense.
“A prohibition on interstate use or cultivation of marijuana may no longer be necessary or proper to support the federal government’s piecemeal approach,” Thomas began.
Thomas then went on to point out the fact that despite a federal ban on cannabis, the U.S. government allows 36 states to have some form of cannabis legalization.
“The Federal Government’s current approach is a half-in, half-out regime that simultaneously tolerates and forbids local use of marijuana. This contradictory and unstable state of affairs strains basic principles of federalism and conceals traps for the unwary,” Thomas added.
According to Thomas, business owners are prohibited by federal law from deducting business expenses, leaving them at a financial disadvantage to other businesses based solely on the nature of the business they conduct.
“Many marijuana-related businesses operate entirely in cash because federal law prohibits certain financial institutions from knowingly accepting deposits from or providing other bank services to businesses that violate federal law,” Thomas continued.
“Cash-based operations are understandably enticing to burglars and robbers. But, if marijuana-related businesses, in recognition of this, hire armed guards for protection, the owners and the guards might run afoul of a federal law that imposes harsh penalties for using a firearm in furtherance of a ‘drug trafficking crime,’” Thomas stated.
Of course, most folks already agree that it’s only a matter of time before the federal government repeals the federal ban on cannabis.
And the most conservative and longest-serving member of the Supreme Court says now is the time.
