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July 08, 2005
More Comments About Raich
Finally . . . an accurate, and humorous, media analysis of the Raich opinion. Check out the June 27, 2005 edition of The New Yorker ("The Talk Of The Town," p. 33.). I do not know if writer Hendrik Hertzberg is an attorney. However, it is clear that he actually read the opinion. I enjoyed his comment that "the ruling had nothing to do with marijuana's wickedness (which none of the four written opinions, two on each side, took seriously) and little to do with its efficacy in relieving suffering (which all four took for granted). To make sense of Gonzales v. Raich, a Supreme Court Decoder Ring, available with three box tops from Original Intent Ceral, would be a valuable accessory. The ruling, you see, was all about the Constitution's commerce clause . . . ." As for Justice Thomas's dissent, the author observed that "certain passages . . . could have been written by Justice Cheech or Justice Chong."
A Correction to Make....
In my April 29, 2005 discussion of Moreno v. Baca, I erroneously stated that the plaintiff was stopped by the LAPD. Correction--he was stopped by Sheriff's deputies. The defendant named in the civil rights suit was the Los Angeles County Sheriff.
Posted by Tim Warriner at 03:42 PM