United States v. Jackson

• Decision Date: 05 June 2019
• Docket Number: CRIMINAL ACTION NO. 17-577
• Citation: 388 F.Supp.3d 505
• Parties: UNITED STATES v. Cameron Lauren JACKSON
• Court: U.S. District Court — Eastern District of Pennsylvania

388 F.Supp.3d 505

UNITED STATES

v.Cameron Lauren JACKSON

CRIMINAL ACTION NO. 17-577

United States District Court, E.D. Pennsylvania.

Signed June 5, 2019

Matthew Todd Newcomer, Esq., for United States.

Natasha Taylor-Smith, Esq., for Cameron Lauren Jackson.

MEMORANDUM

DuBois, J.

I. INTRODUCTION

The U.S. Probation Office alleges that defendant Cameron Lauren Jackson violated the terms of his supervised release by testing positive for the use of marijuana on ten occasions during his term of federal supervision. Defendant maintains that his marijuana use was for medical reasons and was lawful under Pennsylvania's Medical Marijuana Act. Presently before the Court is defendant's Motion to Enjoin Use of [U.S. Department of Justice ("DOJ") ] Funds and Dismiss Violation Petition on the basis of a rider included in the 2019 Consolidated Appropriations Act, which prohibits DOJ from using its funds to "prevent" states from "implementing" their medical marijuana laws.

The Court now faces an issue of first impression in this Circuit: under the appropriations rider, is DOJ permitted to use its funds to prosecute a violation of supervised release premised on state law-compliant use of medical marijuana? For the reasons that follow, the Court concludes that the answer is no. Where a defendant shows that his use of medical marijuana was fully compliant with the applicable state law, the rider prohibits DOJ from using its funds to prosecute a violation of supervised release.

II. BACKGROUND

In 2012, defendant pled guilty to one count of possession with intent to distribute cocaine, cocaine base, and heroin in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 841(a)(1). Def. Mot. Enjoin DOJ & Dismiss Pet. ("Def. Mot.") 4; Gov't Resp. Def. Mot. Enjoin DOJ & Dismiss Pet. ("Gov't Resp.") 2. He was sentenced, inter alia , to 151 months of imprisonment, followed by 3 years of supervised release. See Def. Mot. 4 n.3. On November 18, 2016, the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania vacated defendant's sentence pursuant to Johnson v. United States , ––– U.S. ––––, 135 S. Ct. 2551, 192 L.Ed.2d 569 (2015), and resentenced defendant to 21 months of imprisonment, followed by 3 years of supervised release. See Gov't Resp. 4; Def. Mot. 4. Defendant was released from incarceration and began his term of supervised release that day, having already overserved his prison sentence by several years. Gov't Resp. 4. On November 7, 2017, jurisdiction over defendant's supervised release was transferred to the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. Def. Mot. 4 n.3. His supervised release is currently scheduled to end on November 17, 2019. Id. at 5.

Defendant's conditions of supervised release include, inter alia , a prohibition against committing any other federal, state, or local crime and purchasing, possessing, using, distributing, or administering any controlled substance or any paraphernalia related to any controlled substances, except as prescribed by a physician, during his term of supervision. See id. at 5–6.

The Government charges defendant with testing positive for the use of marijuana, a Schedule I controlled substance, on ten occasions between May 2018 and March 2019. Id. at 5. Defendant does not admit, in the motion, the ten charged positive drug tests and states that he was issued a medical marijuana identification card by the Pennsylvania Department of Health on July 6, 2018, authorizing him to use and possess medical marijuana. Id. The Court notes that two of the alleged positive drug tests predate the issuance of the medical marijuana identification card. See id. at 18 n.15.

The U.S. Probation Office notified defendant on several occasions that his use of marijuana was considered a violation of his supervised release and could result in a sanction. Violation of Supervised Release Pet. ("Pet.") 2. According to the U.S. Probation Office, defendant admitted to continuously using marijuana but argued his conduct was not a violation of supervised release because he was in possession of a medical marijuana identification card. Gov't Resp. 5. Defendant's identification card was renewed on January 19, 2019, and expires on January 19, 2020. Def. Mot. 5.

On March 8, 2019, the U.S. Probation Office filed a Report on Offender Under Supervision setting forth the allegations of defendant's marijuana use (ECF No. 8 ). On March 22, 2019, the Court issued an Order scheduling briefing on the novel legal issues presented by this case and a violation hearing for June 13, 2019 (ECF No. 10 ). In compliance with that Order, the U.S. Probation Office submitted the Petition for Violation of Supervised Release, dated March 25, 2019, charging defendant with violating the conditions of his supervised release by testing positive for marijuana use on ten occasions. Pet. 2. The Petition states that the violation warrants revocation of defendant's supervised release. Id. Upon consideration of the Petition, the Court, by Order dated March 26, 2019, issued a summons directing defendant to appear at a revocation hearing. This is the first violation petition filed against Jackson during his three-year term of supervised release. Def. Mot. 6. Defendant contends that at the time the petition was filed, he was compliant with all other conditions of his supervised release. Id.

On April 15, 2019, defendant filed a motion to enjoin the use of DOJ funds in this matter and to dismiss the violation petition (ECF No. 13 ). The Government responded on May 3, 2019 (ECF No. 14 ), and defendant filed a reply on May 7, 2019 (ECF No. 15 ). After a telephone conference with counsel for the parties on May 17, 2019, the Court decided that it was appropriate to rule on two issues of law presented by this case—the conflict between federal and state law on marijuana use and the effect of the appropriations rider on supervised release proceedings—before conducting further proceedings. The legal issues have been fully briefed by the parties and are now ripe for decision.

III. APPLICABLE LAW

A. Pennsylvania's Medical Marijuana Act

Pennsylvania enacted the Medical Marijuana Act in 2016. The Act provides that "use or possession of medical marijuana ... is lawful within this Commonwealth" so long as the "patient" meets certain requirements. See 35 Pa. Stat. Ann. § 10231.303. To be eligible for medical marijuana under the Act, a "patient" must have one of seventeen enumerated "serious medical condition[s]," which include, inter alia , cancer, epilepsy, and glaucoma. Id. § 10231.103. The Act also requires a "patient" to "receive[ ] certification from a practitioner," to acquire the marijuana from an approved dispensary, and to be "in possession of a valid identification card issued by" the Pennsylvania Department of Health at any time they are in possession of medical marijuana. Id. § 10231.303.

B. Consolidated Appropriations Act

The U.S. Constitution assigns to Congress the power to appropriate government funding and forbids the Executive from spending money that has not been so allocated. See U.S. Const., art. I, §§ 8–9 ("Congress shall have Power To ... provide for the ... general Welfare of the United States; ... No Money shall be drawn from the Treasury, but in Consequence of Appropriations made by Law."). The Supreme Court has held that the Appropriations Clause of the U.S. Constitution is meant to "assure that public funds will be spent according to the letter of the difficult judgments reached by Congress as to the common good, and not according to the individual favor of Government agents." See Office of Pers. Mgmt. v. Richmond , 496 U.S. 414, 428, 110 S.Ct. 2465, 110 L.Ed.2d 387 (1990).

On February 15, 2019, President Trump signed the Consolidated Appropriations Act, which funded the federal government through September 30, 2019. See Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2019, Pub. L. No. 116-6, 133 Stat. 13 (2019). The Act allocated funds to DOJ and included a rider at § 537, which provides, "[n]one of the funds made available under this Act to the Department of Justice may be used, with respect to [Pennsylvania and 49 other U.S. states and jurisdictions], to prevent any of them from implementing their own laws that authorize the use, distribution, possession, or cultivation of medical marijuana." Id. at § 537. This language has been included in every appropriations bill since 2014, differing only as to the states and jurisdictions that are named. See, e.g. , Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropriations Act 2015, Pub. L. No. 113-235, § 538, 128 Stat. 2130, 2217 (2014).

IV. DISCUSSION

Before deciding whether the appropriations rider contained in the Consolidated Appropriations Act prohibits DOJ from prosecuting a violation of supervised release the Court must determine whether state law-compliant use of medical marijuana violates the conditions of defendant's supervised release. Second, the Court must decide whether the rider applies to prohibit DOJ involvement in proceedings related to violations of supervised release. Finally, if the rider applies to supervised release proceedings, the Court must determine whether it is applicable to the requested violation hearing in this case. The Court addresses each of these issues in turn.

A. Violation of Conditions of Supervised Release

The Court first addresses whether state law-compliant use of medical marijuana would violate defendant's conditions of supervised release. The conditions of defendant's supervised release prohibit him from committing any other federal, state, or local crime and from purchasing, possessing, using, distributing, or administering any controlled substance or any paraphernalia related to any controlled substances, except as prescribed by a physician, during the term of supervision. See Def. Mot. 5–6.

Under the Controlled Substances Act, a federal law, it is unlawful to "manufacture, distribute, dispense, or possess any controlled substance except in a manner authorized by the [Act]." Gonzales v. Raich , 545 U.S. 1, 13, 125 S.Ct. 2195, 162 L.Ed.2d...