raich

[PS: the ruling in Raich may have been affected by the pending Stewart case, which was remanded in light of Raich.

The problem with Raich and Wickard (et al.) is not that they extend federal power, but rather that they invent it of whole cloth.

If Raich had been ruled to the reverse, Stewart would have in likewise reasoning legalized convicted felons building machineguns at home (legal under Washington state law).

The four Democratic justices in Raich are part of a block that has supported total federal jurisdiction over every aspect of American life since Wickard v.

In cases such as Wikard v Filburn and Raich v Gonzalez, the Supreme Court has held that Comgresses power to regulate extends to any activity which, in the aggregate, substantially effects interstate commerce.

This in turn led to the Raich case where the Supreme Court ruled the government could prohibit state-permitted personal private activity on the grounds that it affected interstate commerce by reducing demand for a federally illegal product.

The US Supreme Court has ruled (see Raich ) that the federal government is justified in sending an armed raid into a terminally ill old lady's home because she allegedly was growing six marijuana plants under her doctor's supervision & approval for her sole personal use in accordance with state law.

"Regulate interstate commerce" was sent to hallucinogenic new levels with the Supreme Court ruling in the Raich case.

Starkly absent from the discussion of state-legal pot is the relevance of the US Supreme Court verdict in Raich.

Raich, where the Supreme Court held that growing marijuana fell within the Commerce Power because the drug trade involves interstate commerce.

Justice Thomas actually appears to believe that, based on his support for Raich.