United States v. Alan Nixon

We must decide whether a congressional appropriations rider that prohibits the Department of Justice from using certain funds to prosecute individuals for engaging in conduct permitted by state medical marijuana laws impacts the ability of a federal district court to restrict the use of medical marijuana as a condition of probation. We hold that it does not.

I.

Defendant-Appellant Alan David Nixon pled guilty to aiding and abetting the maintenance of a drug-involved premise in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 856 (a)(1) and 18 U.S.C. § 2 (a). The district court sentenced Nixon to a three-year term of probation. As a condition of probation, the district court required that Nixon refrain from unlawful use of a controlled substance and submit to periodic drug testing.

After Nixon had served approximately one year of his probationary term, Congress enacted an omnibus appropriations bill that included the following rider:

Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropriations Act, 2015, Pub. L. No. 113-235 § 538 , 128 Stat. 2130 , 2217 (2014). Congress has since enacted a new appropriations bill for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2016, which includes essentially the same rider.…