Okay, this is amazing! The U.S. 9th Circuit recently had oral arguments in a case involving the issue of whether the federal government has the power to criminalize the noncommercial distribution of marijuana for medical use. The case is called United States v. Oakland Buyer’s Cooperatives.
You non-lawyers won’t care about this, but if you are a law student taking Constitutional Law or if you liked Constitutional Law when you took it in law school you remember the Commerce Clause cases. How would you like to be able to read a well-written account of the argument by a law professor who was at the argument? Thanks to the Internet and the power of weblogs your wish is fulfilled.
I would never have been able to quickly grasp the essence of this case unless Larry Solum had posted his account of the argument. Just when I think I’ve completely grasped the power of the Internet something else comes along to astonish me even further.
Oh, and I agree with this point by Solum on oral argument: “Oral argument is an art, not a science. Most lawyers waste oral argument, usually be sticking to their strongest arguments and evading the court’s questions.” I’m sure most appellate judges would agree with this as well.
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