v.
STATE of Indiana, Appellee-Plaintiff.
[1] John Solomon appeals his conviction for possession of marijuana as a class B misdemeanor. Solomon raises one issue [*174] which we revise and restate as whether his conviction violates his right to liberty and pursuit of happiness under Article 1, Section 1, of the Indiana Constitution. We affirm.
Facts and Procedural History
[2] On April 15, 2017, Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Officer Mitchel Farnsley initiated a traffic stop of a silver Buick near 30th Street and Capitol Avenue in Marion County. There were five occupants in the vehicle, and Solomon was seated in a rear seat. Officer Farnsley discovered that the license plate on the vehicle was for a green Ford Explorer, called for backup, and Officer Haley arrived on the scene. The police observed one of the vehicle's occupants destroying a syringe, and they immediately had the occupants exit the vehicle. The police discovered numerous syringes and some aluminum foil, along with a "marijuana blunt, located directly smooshed between the seat and the back seat ... where John Solomon's butt would have been sitting." Transcript Volume II at 11. Officer Farnsley read Solomon his Miranda rights. Solomon "stated that nothing in the car was his except for the marijuana blunt." Id. at 12. Solomon also told the police that he was in the vehicle because he was getting a ride to the liquor store.
[3] On April 16, 2017, the State charged Solomon with possession of marijuana as a class B misdemeanor. On August 1, 2018, the court held a bench trial at which Solomon testified that he did not know there was a marijuana blunt beneath him, that the marijuana blunt did not belong to him, and that he told Officer Haley that it did not belong to him. The court found Solomon guilty of possession of marijuana as a class B misdemeanor and sentenced him to twenty days with fourteen days suspended.
Discussion
[4] Solomon claims that criminalizing the mere possession of a single marijuana blunt by an adult who is not driving or otherwise impacting others violates Article 1, Section 1, of the Indiana Constitution and that his conviction should be vacated. He argues that
[5]
[6] Article 1, Section 1, of the Indiana Constitution ("Section 1") provides:
WE DECLARE, That all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their CREATOR with certain unalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness; that all power is inherent in the PEOPLE; and that all free governments are, and of right ought to be, founded on their authority, and instituted for their peace, safety, and well-being. For the advancement of these ends, the People have, at all times, an indefeasible right to alter and reform their government.
[7] "A challenge to the constitutionality of a statute is a 'pure question of law,' which we review
de novo
."
State v. Thakar
,
[8] Solomon asserts that the possession of a single blunt of marijuana by an adult who is not driving or otherwise impacting others falls well within the protections afforded by Section 1 and that marijuana brings happiness to some people, whether helping to alleviate a medical condition or for recreational purposes. He argues that thirty-two states have legalized the use of marijuana for medicinal and/or recreational use and that his possession of a small amount of marijuana as a passenger of a vehicle does not adversely affect anyone else. He argues that marijuana use was legal in 1851 when the Indiana Constitution was drafted and ratified, that George Washington reportedly cultivated marijuana, and that in the mid-1800s marijuana was legal in the United States and used for medicinal purposes on a small scale. He also states that "[w]hen immigrants from Mexico and the West Indies began the practice of smoking marijuana around 1900, states began to criminalize the possession or sale of marijuana in statutes that 'stemmed largely from racism and concern that use would spread,' " Appellant's Brief at 10 (citing Scott W. Howe, Constitutional Clause Aggregation and the Marijuana Crimes , 75 WASH. & LEE L. REV. 779, 793 (2018) ), and that the possession of marijuana appears to have been criminalized in Indiana in the 1930s.
[9] Solomon further argues that the Indiana Supreme Court, in
Herman v. State
,
[10] The State responds that Solomon's constitutional claim is waived because he
[*176]
did not raise it before the trial court and that, because Solomon did not provide the trial court with an opportunity to consider a challenge to the constitutionality of the marijuana possession statute or the State with the opportunity to offer evidence in support of the constitutionality of the statute, this Court should find his claim waived and decline to address it. Further, the State maintains that Article 1, Section 1, of the Indiana Constitution contains no judicially enforceable rights and that "[t]he Indiana Supreme Court has cast serious doubt that Article 1, Section 1 is a self-executing provision capable of judicial enforcement rather than an unenforceable expression of the general principles that animate our Constitution." Appellee's Brief at 11 (citing
Doe v. O'Connor
,
[11] The State asserts that, at one time, the Indiana Supreme Court found "a right to possess alcohol as a species of property right,"
[12] The State further argues that, "[e]ven if Section 1 were to provide some level of judicially enforceable protection for some asserted 'natural rights,' there is no textual or historical basis for concluding that it protects any right to possess marijuana," that statutes are clothed with the presumption of constitutionality, that Solomon offered no evidence that marijuana brings him happiness, that Solomon's argument refers to items outside the record, and that, if this matter had been litigated in the trial court, the State would have been able to offer a number of studies which support the legislature's conclusion that marijuana should be illegal. Id. at 17. It argues that, while some states have legalized marijuana, the Food and Drug Administration and Drug Enforcement Administration have concluded that marijuana has no federally-approved medical use for treatment and remains a Schedule I controlled substance under federal law. Id. at 19 (citing United States Department of Justice, Drug Enforcement Administration, Drugs of Abuse, A DEA Resource Guide 75 (2017) ). It also argues that, unlike in Herman , there is no evidence in the record that there was a large-scale marijuana industry in Indiana when its constitution was adopted and Solomon fails to cite a long-standing universal use of marijuana that the framers of the Indiana Constitution would have had in mind when adopting Section 1.
[13] In his reply brief, Solomon argues that this appeal is about the liberty that Section 1 promises adult Hoosiers. He argues Section 1 provides judicially enforceable rights and that the Indiana Supreme Court addressed a substantive Section 1 claim in 2011. Appellant's Reply Brief at 10 (citing
Moore v. State
,
[14] Solomon did not argue before the trial court that
[15] For the foregoing reasons, we affirm Solomon's conviction.
[16] Affirmed.
Bailey, J., and Bradford, J., concur.
In
Doe
, the Court stated that "[o]ther states also have construed constitutional provisions similar in wording to Art. I, § 1, of the Indiana Constitution not to provide a sole basis for challenging legislation since the language is not so complete as to provide courts with a standard that could be routinely and uniformly applied" and "[w]e need not decide whether Art. I, § 1, presents any justiciable issues here because Doe does not press a substantive claim."
In
Beebe
and
Herman
, the Court found the liquor act of 1855 to be void.
See
Herman
,
This Court has observed that the Indiana Supreme Court in
Beebe
found a right to possess alcohol and that "[t]his case and others following it were later overruled during the Prohibition Era."
Morrison
,
In
Moore
, the defendant appealed her conviction of public intoxication as a class B misdemeanor.