Pruitt wants cold medicine case in Supreme Court
WASHINGTON — In December 2010, Angela Michelle Wolf purchased some cold and allergy medicine that contained pseudoephedrine, triggering an Oklahoma legal case that is now before the U.S. Supreme Court.
Wolf complied with the state law that required her to show her identification and sign for the medicine.
But she unwittingly broke a new state law when she made the purchase and others over the next few months. Wolf was not legally permitted to buy medicine with pseudoephedrine because she had a previous conviction for possessing it with the intent to manufacture methamphetamine.
Though she initially pleaded guilty in Garfield County under the new law, she later withdrew the plea, arguing that the law was unconstitutional because it didn’t require she be notified that buying pseudoephedrine — something most people can do legally — would be a felony.
The Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals agreed with her in November and struck down the provisions that led to her charges.
Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt wants the U.S. Supreme Court to review the state court decision.
Generally, ignorance of a law isn’t a defense. However, the U.S. Supreme Court has carved out some exceptions to that.
Pruitt’s office says this isn’t one of them.
“A person like Wolf, who has previously been convicted of possessing pseudoephedrine with the intent to manufacture methamphetamine, should be aware that their acquisition of pseudoephedrine is not free from regulation,’’ Pruitt’s office argued to the high court.
But Wolf’s attorney says the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals was right and that the U.S. Supreme Court doesn’t need to review the case.
“Fair notice to the people affected by the Methamphetamine Registry Act would prevent trapping the unwary purchaser who is only seeking relief of sinus congestion without thwarting the government’s goal of preventing sales of pseudoephedrine to people with methamphetamine-related convictions,’’ attorney Lee Ann Jones Peters told the justices in her brief.
Supreme Court justices are expected to decide soon whether to take the case.