No. 24-1024

Clarence Cocroft, et al. v. Chris Graham, Commissioner, Mississippi Department of Revenue, et al.

Lower Court: Fifth Circuit
Docketed: 2025-03-25
Status: Denied
Type: Paid
Amici (2)Response Waived
Tags: central-hudson commercial-speech constitutional-law first-amendment regulatory-speech state-law
Key Terms:
FirstAmendment JusticiabilityDoctri
Latest Conference: 2025-05-02
Question Presented (AI Summary)

Is Central Hudson's first prong a constitutional 'on/off' switch for evaluating commercial speech legality, or a flexible factor?

Question Presented (OCR Extract)

Under this Court’s four-part Central Hudson framework, truthful speech promoting a commercial transaction is protected under the First Amendment. Since Central Hudson was decided, however, both this Court and the circuit courts have expressed irreconcilable views on how to correctly apply Central Hudson ’s first prong to weigh a transaction’s legality. Only this Court can resolve this split—one growing ever more critical with the emergence of the nation’s medical marijuana industry, a marketplace that operates in compliance with state laws while in violation of federal. The Fifth Circuit, below, adopted a rule under which a moribund and unenforced federal prohibition empowers regulators, at the state level, to censor speech about products that are lawful under state law. If that is correct, then states may adopt virtually any commercial speech bans they desire, so long as there is some law regulating the underlying conduct, even if that law is never enforced. Accordingly, the questions presented are: 1. Is Central Hudson ’s first prong a constitutional “on/off” switch, which treats a product’s legality as a pure threshold question; or is it a flexible and non-dispositive factor among several? 2. Does Central Hudson , or any alternative First Amendment framework the Court might adopt, allow a government to prohibit commercial ii speech about a transaction if it does not actually seek to prohibit the transaction itself?

Docket Entries

2025-05-05
Petition DENIED.
2025-04-24
Amicus brief of Cato Institute submitted.
2025-04-24
Amicus brief of Weed for Warriors Project submitted.
2025-04-24
Brief amicus curiae of Weed for Warriors Project filed. (Distributed)
2025-04-24
Brief amicus curiae of Cato Institute filed.(Distributed)
2025-04-16
DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 5/2/2025.
2025-04-09
Waiver of Chris Graham, et al. of right to respond submitted.
2025-04-09
Waiver of right of respondent Chris Graham, et al. to respond filed.
2025-03-21
Petition for a writ of certiorari filed. (Response due April 24, 2025)
2025-01-23
Application (24A716) granted by Justice Alito extending the time to file until March 22, 2025.
2025-01-15
Application (24A716) to extend the time to file a petition for a writ of certiorari from February 20, 2025 to March 24, 2025, submitted to Justice Alito.

Attorneys

Cato Institute
Thomas Arthur BerryCato Institute, Amicus
Thomas Arthur BerryCato Institute, Amicus
Chris Graham, et al.
Justin L. MathenyOffice of the Mississippi Attorney General, Respondent
Justin L. MathenyOffice of the Mississippi Attorney General, Respondent
Clarence Cocroft, et al.
Ari Simon Bargillnstitute for Justice, Petitioner
Ari Simon Bargillnstitute for Justice, Petitioner
Weed for Warriors Project
Timothy S. DurstO'Melveny & Myers LLP, Amicus
Timothy S. DurstO'Melveny & Myers LLP, Amicus