Queens judge rules law used to close down illegal pot shops is unconstitutional

NYC’s crusade to shut down suspected illegal pot shops hit a road bump Tuesday when a Queens judge ruled that the law being used to shutter storefronts was unconstitutional.

Judge Kevin Kerrigan ruled that closing the stores violates owners’ rights by denying them due process. The ruling comes after a Queens business was shut down in September following an after-hours raid by the city sheriff’s office that uncovered suspected pot and pot products for sale without a license.

The shop at the center of the controversy, Cloud Corner on Francis Lewis Boulevard in Bayside, is one of more than 1,200 stores that the NYPD and NYC Sheriff’s Office shut down through “Operation Padlock to Protect,” an Adams administration initiative launched in May to put the kibosh on businesses suspected of selling cannabis without a license.

The city plans to appeal the ruling, according to media reports.

“Illegal smoke shops and their dangerous products endanger young New Yorkers and our quality of life, and we continue to padlock illicit storefronts and protect communities from the health and safety dangers posed by illegal operators,” a City Hall spokesperson said in a statement to amNewYork Metro.”To date, through ‘Operation Padlock to Protect,’ we have shut down over 1,200 illegal shops and seized over $82 million in illegal products that, for too long, have put people at risk. The Law Department has filed a notice of appeal on this case.”

Cloud Corner on Francis Lewis Boulevard in Bayside, Queens, was the subject of a raid under the city’s Padlock to Protect program.Photo via Google Maps

Operation Padlock to Protect was borne out of a new state law that expanded the power of municipalities like New York City to shut suspect stores even as hearings played out. NYC Sheriff Anthony Miranda, who is under an unrelated corruption investigation on other matters, has the final say after a hearing on whether or not a shuttered store should remain closed — regardless of what the hearing officer determines.

According to media reports, the owner of Cloud Corner said the store was closed when the Sheriff’s office inspected the shop, allegedly making it impossible to see any cannabis products being sold.

Lance Lazzaro, an attorney for Cloud Corner, said in a New York Post article that NYC “should be ashamed” for allowing the process to happen.

“This decision validates what we have been arguing since this statute was enacted,” Lazzaro said in the article. “Mayor Adams, the City Council and the sheriff have violated the due process rights of every store owner that has been shut down by the NYC Sheriff’s office.“

What is the future of illegal pot shops?

Some legal experts say it is too premature to call Operation Padlock to Protect a failure, as the new ruling does not apply to every case of every illegal pot shop that was shut down.

“There may be other cases where the facts and the process were very similar, and there may be other cases where the facts or the process are not the same, so it might not apply at all,” Stephen Louis, distinguished fellow and counsel, New York Law School’s Center for New York City and State Law, said.

But even in those cases where facts match up almost exactly, another judge could preside on the matter.

“You could end up with a different outcome. Or the same,” Louis explained. “We don’t know yet how broadly this opinion will be used by other judges.”

Louis said judges are not obliged to follow Kerrigan’s ruling, adding that they can reach a different or the same conclusion.

According to Louis, cases such as this generally play out over time in the appellate process, “whether it goes to the appellate division or the NYC Court of Appeals, before we really find out what the State of New York law is. “

As for Cloud Corner in Queens, it is unclear right now when or if the shop will reopen.