NY Judge Invalidates Order That Forced Cannabis Store to Close

The judge sided with a Queens store that had prevailed at a hearing but was shuttered by law enforcement anyway.
NY Judge Invalidates Order That Forced Cannabis Store to Close
Customers shop for marijuana products at Catalyst Cannabis Dispensary in Santa Ana, Calif., on Feb. 18, 2021. John Fredricks/The Epoch Times
|Updated:
0:00

NEW YORK CITY—As disputes over the legal status of cannabis and its sale continue, New York City businesses that sell or seek to sell it gained a modest victory on Oct. 29 when a judge ruled that Operation Padlock to Protect, a statute that gave police broad scope to close down such businesses, violated their right to due process.

In his decision, New York State Supreme Court Judge Kevin Kerrigan ruled in favor of Cloud Corner, a store located on Francis Lewis Boulevard in Queens, finding due process violations in the administrative hearings in which representatives for the store challenged its closure.

Michael Washburn
Michael Washburn
Reporter
Michael Washburn is a New York-based reporter who covers U.S. and China-related topics for The Epoch Times. He has a background in legal and financial journalism, and also writes about arts and culture. Additionally, he is the host of the weekly podcast Reading the Globe. His books include “The Uprooted and Other Stories,” “When We're Grownups,” and “Stranger, Stranger.”