Opinion ID: 3047693
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Common Law Necessity

Text: Raich first argues that she has a likelihood of success on the merits of her claim that the common law doctrine of necessity bars the federal government from enforcing the Controlled Substances Act against her medically-necessary use of marijuana.3 Raich avers that she is faced with a choice of evils: to either obey the Controlled Substances Act and endure excruciating pain and possibly death, or violate the terms of the Controlled Substances Act and obtain relief from her physical suffering. The necessity defense “traditionally covered the situation where physical forces beyond the actor’s control rendered illegal conduct the lesser of two evils” and the actor had no “reasonable, legal alternative to violating the law.” United States v. Bailey, 444 U.S. 394, 410 (1980); see also 2 Wayne R. LaFave, Substantive Criminal Law § 10.1 at 116 (2d ed. 2003 & Supp. 2005). As we have recognized, In some sense, the necessity defense allows us to act as individual legislatures, amending a particular criminal provision or crafting a one-time exception to it, subject to court review, when a real legislature would formally do the same under those circum- stances. For example, by allowing prisoners who escape a burning jail to claim the justification of necessity, we assume the lawmaker, confronting this problem, would have allowed for an exception to the law proscribing prison escapes. 3 We address Raich’s necessity claim before her constitutional substantive due process claim because “an Act of Congress ought not be construed to violate the Constitution if any other possible construction remains available.” Gilmore v. California, 220 F.3d 987, 998 (9th Cir. 2000) (quoting NLRB v. Catholic Bishop, 440 U.S. 490, 500 (1979)). 3038 RAICH v. GONZALES United States v. Schoon, 971 F.2d 193, 196-97 (9th Cir. 1991). The Supreme Court has recognized that a common law necessity defense exists even when a statute does not explicitly include the defense. See Bailey, 444 U.S. at 425 (Blackmun, J., dissenting) (having “no difficulty in concluding that Congress intended the defenses of duress and necessity to be available” to prison escape defendant); id. at 415 n.11 (Rehnquist, J., majority opinion) (noting that the majority’s “principal difference with the dissent, therefore, is not as to the existence of [the necessity] defense but as to the importance of surrender as an element of it”).4 A. Whether Raich Satisfies the Requirements of the Common Law Necessity Defense5 4 Dicta in a recent Supreme Court decision questioned the ongoing vitality of common law necessity defense. The majority in United States v. Oakland Cannabis Buyers’ Cooperative, 532 U.S. 483, 490 (2001) (“Oakland Cannabis”), stated that “it is an open question whether federal courts ever have authority to recognize a necessity defense not provided by statute.” But the majority ultimately conceded that the “Court ha[d] discussed the possibility of a necessity defense without altogether rejecting it.” Id. (citing Bailey, 444 U.S. at 415). Three Justices filed a separate concurrence in Oakland Cannabis, noting that “the Court gratuitously casts doubt on ‘whether necessity can ever be a defense’ to any federal statute that does not explicitly provide for it, calling such a defense into question by a misleading reference to its existence as an ‘open question.’ ” Id. at 501 (Stevens, J., concurring) (quoting majority opinion) (emphasis in original). “[O]ur precedent has expressed no doubt about the viability of the common-law defense, even in the context of federal criminal statutes that do not provide for it in so many words.” Id. (citing Bailey, 444 U.S. at 415). We do not believe that the Oakland Cannabis dicta abolishes more than a century of common law necessity jurisprudence. See, e.g., Regina v. Dudley & Stephens, 14 Q.B.D. 273 (1884). 5 As the Supreme Court did in Oakland Cannabis, we first address the underlying principles of the common law necessity defense, and then turn to the defense’s relationship to the Controlled Substances Act and the relief sought. See, e.g., Oakland Cannabis, 532 U.S. at 490-95. RAICH v. GONZALES 3039 [3] Here, although we ultimately conclude that Raich is not entitled to injunctive relief on the basis of her common law necessity claim, we briefly note that, in light of the compelling facts before the district court, Raich appears to satisfy the threshold requirements for asserting a necessity defense under our case law. We have set forth the following general standards for a necessity defense: As a matter of law, a defendant must establish the existence of four elements to be entitled to a necessity defense: (1) that he was faced with a choice of evils and chose the lesser evil; (2) that he acted to prevent imminent harm; (3) that he reasonably anticipated a causal relation between his conduct and the harm to be avoided; and (4) that there were no other legal alternatives to violating the law. United States v. Aguilar, 883 F.2d 662, 693 (9th Cir. 1989). We first ask whether Raich was faced with a choice of evils and whether she chose the lesser evil. Raich’s physician presented uncontroverted evidence that Raich “cannot be without cannabis as medicine” because she would quickly suffer “precipitous medical deterioration” and “could very well” die. If Raich obeys the Controlled Substances Act she will have to endure intolerable pain including severe chronic pain in her face and jaw muscles due to temporomandibular joint dysfunction and bruxism, severe chronic pain and chronic burning from fibromyalgia that forces her to be flat on her back for days, excruciating pain from non-epileptic seizures, heavy bleeding and severely painful menstrual periods due to a uterine fibroid tumor, and acute weight loss resulting possibly in death due to a life-threatening wasting disorder.6 Alterna- 6 This litany of ailments makes no mention of the fact that Raich was confined to a wheelchair before she found effective pain management in marijuana, which restored her ability to walk. The seriousness of her conditions cannot be overemphasized: in 1997, the extreme physical and psy3040 RAICH v. GONZALES tively, Raich can violate the Controlled Substances Act and avoid the bulk of those debilitating pains by using marijuana. The evidence persuasively demonstrates that, in light of her medical condition, Raich satisfies the first prong of the necessity defense. [4] We next ask whether Raich is acting to prevent imminent harm. All medical evidence in the record suggests that, if Raich were to stop using marijuana, the acute chronic pain and wasting disorders would immediately resume. The Government does not dispute the severity of her conditions or the likelihood that her pain would recur if she is deprived of marijuana. Raich has therefore established that the harm she faces is imminent. [5] Prong three asks whether Raich reasonably anticipated a causal connection between her unlawful conduct and the harm to be avoided. We believe that Raich’s belief in the causal connection is reasonable. Here, Raich’s licensed physician testified to the causal connection between her physical condition and her need to use marijuana. The Government did not dispute this medical evidence. Because Raich has clearly demonstrated the medical correlation, she has satisfied prong three.7 chological pain led Raich to attempt suicide. We are mindful that “extreme pain totally occupies the psychic world” and that “in serious pain the claims of the body utterly nullify the claims of the world.” Seth F. Kreimer, The Second Time as Tragedy: The Assisted Suicide Cases and the Heritage of Roe v. Wade, 24 Hastings Const. L.Q. 863, 895 & n.157 (1997) (citations omitted). Raich has shown remarkable fortitude in pursuing this action to vindicate the rights of the infirm despite her precarious physical condition. 7 The causal connection prong limits the danger that a medical necessity exception could open the floodgates to widespread exceptions to the Controlled Substances Act. A marijuana “necessity” claimant absolutely must present, as Raich has, testimony that the allegedly unlawful action was taken at the direction of a doctor. RAICH v. GONZALES 3041 [6] Finally, we ask whether Raich had any legal alternatives to violating the law. Dr. Lucido’s testimony makes clear that Raich had no legal alternatives: Raich “has tried essentially all other legal alternatives to cannabis and the alternatives have been ineffective or result in intolerable side effects.” Raich’s physician explained that the intolerable side effects included violent nausea, shakes, itching, rapid heart palpitations, and insomnia. We agree that Raich does not appear to have any legal alternative to marijuana use.8 [7] Although Raich appears to satisfy the factual predicate for a necessity defense, it is not clear whether the Supreme Court’s decision in United States v. Oakland Cannabis Buyers’ Cooperative forecloses a necessity defense to a prosecution of a seriously ill defendant under the Controlled Substances Act. 532 U.S. 483, 484 n.7 (2001). Similarly, whether the Controlled Substances Act encompasses a legislative “determination of values,” id. at 491, that would preclude a necessity defense is also an unanswered question. These are difficult issues, and in light of our conclusion below that Raich’s necessity claim is best resolved within the context of a specific prosecution under the Controlled Substances Act, where the issue would be fully joined, we do not attempt to answer them here. 8 The Government suggests that certain federal programs exist which might allow Raich to obtain marijuana lawfully. See, e.g., 21 U.S.C. § 823(f) (authorizing the Secretary of Health and Human Services to permit medical practitioners to design and implement research protocols using Schedule I substances, including marijuana, on a case-by-base basis). Amici curiae American Civil Liberties Union Foundation and Marijuana Policy Project and Rick Doblin, Ph.D make abundantly clear that this is not a tenable “alternative.” The program is highly restricted and has not accepted new medical marijuana patients since 1992. 3042 RAICH v. GONZALES B. Whether a Viable Necessity Defense Gives Raich a Likelihood of Success on the Merits on this Action for Injunctive Relief Irrespective of the compelling factual basis for Raich’s necessity claim, whether Raich has a likelihood of success on the merits in this action for injunctive relief is a different question. We conclude that Raich has not demonstrated that she will likely succeed in obtaining injunctive relief on the necessity ground. [8] The necessity defense is an affirmative defense that removes criminal liability for violation of a criminal statute. See 2 LaFave, Substantive Criminal Law § 9.1(a) (2d ed. 2003 & Supp. 2005). Necessity is essentially a justification for the prohibited conduct: the “harm caused by the justified behavior remains a legally recognized harm that is to be avoided whenever possible.” Paul H. Robinson, Criminal Law Defenses § 24(a) (1984 & Supp. 2006-2007). A common law necessity defense thus singles out conduct that is “otherwise criminal, which under the circumstances is socially acceptable and which deserves neither criminal liability nor even censure.” LaFave, Substantive Criminal Law § 9.1(a)(3) (2d ed. 2003 & Supp. 2005) (quotation omitted). The necessity defense serves to protect the defendant from criminal liability. [9] Though a necessity defense may be available in the context of a criminal prosecution, it does not follow that a court should prospectively enjoin enforcement of a statute. Raich’s violation of the Controlled Substances Act is a legally recognized harm, but the necessity defense shields Raich from liability for criminal prosecution during such time as she satisfies the defense. Thus, if Raich were to make a miraculous recovery that obviated her need for medical marijuana, her necessity-based justification defense would no longer exist. Similarly, if Dr. Lucido found an alternative treatment that did not violate the law — a legal alternative to violating the Controlled Substances Act — Raich could no longer RAICH v. GONZALES 3043 assert a necessity defense. That is to say, a necessity defense is best considered in the context of a concrete case where a statute is allegedly violated, and a specific prosecution results from the violation. Indeed, oversight and enforcement of a necessity defense-based injunction would prove impracticable: the ongoing vitality of the injunction could hinge on factors including Raich’s medical condition or advances in lawful medical technology. Nothing in the common law or our cases suggests that the existence of a necessity defense empowers this court to enjoin the enforcement of the Controlled Substances Act as to one defendant. [10] Because common law necessity prevents criminal liability, but does not permit us to enjoin prosecution for what remains a legally recognized harm, we hold that Raich has not shown a likelihood of success on the merits on her medical necessity claim for an injunction.9