1. On what grounds did the states of Nebraska and Oklahoma bring a lawsuit to the U.S. Supreme Court against Colorado? (Why did they file the suit against Colorado?) Be specific.

2. How did Colorado defend its law?

3. How did Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt respond when the Supreme Court declined to hear the case?

4. What did Nebraska Attorney General Doug Peterson say about the Court’s decision?

5. a) Under what constitutional provision did Oklahoma and Nebraska file the case directly with the Supreme Court?
b) Why were they able to file the suit with the Supreme Court without first taking the suit to a lower court?

6. a) Do you think Oklahoma and Nebraska make a reasonable case for their appeal to the court? Explain your answer.
b) Do you think the Court should have accepted the case? Explain your answer.

7.

• The U.S. Solicitor General is the third-highest ranking official in the U.S. Department of Justice.
• The Solicitor General is the person appointed to represent the federal government before the Supreme Court.
• Last year, the Supreme Court justices asked U.S. Solicitor Gen. Donald Verrilli to weigh in on the interstate legal battle over marijuana, and in December, he urged the court to turn away the lawsuit. Nebraska and Oklahoma have not suffered a “direct injury” from their neighbor to the West, he said, and they remain free to vigorously police marijuana in their states.
• In response, the Nebraska and Oklahoma state attorneys said the Justice Department has “turned its back” on enforcing the federal law and is permitting it to be “dismantled by piecemeal nullification.”
• In their dissent this week, Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel A. Alito Jr. wrote, “The plaintiff states have alleged significant harms to their sovereign interests caused by another state. We should let this complaint proceed further rather than denying leave without so much as a word of explanation.”

With whom do you agree: the Solicitor General or the two justices? Explain your answer.