Green Room v. State of Wyoming

Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit·Decided October 27, 2025·No. 24-8053·Published

Opinion

FILED

United States Court of Appeals PUBLISH Tenth Circuit

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS October 27, 2025 Christopher M. Wolpert

FOR THE TENTH CIRCUIT Clerk of Court

GREEN ROOM LLC; JB DEVELOPMENT INC., d/b/a Polyxtracts; CIND’S CBD AND VAPE LLC; MOUNTAIN HIGH WELLNESS LLC; UP N SMOKE II LLC, d/b/a Up N Smoke II; GREYBULL RIVER FARMS LLC; DR CHRONICS CONCENTRATES LLC, d/b/a Dr Chronics Concentrates and Vapes; CAPITOL ENTERPRISES LLC, d/b/a Capitol Botanicals; FLOWER CASTLE ELEVATED WELLNESS LLC; PLATTE ENTERPRISES LLC, d/b/a Platte Hemp Company LLC; MINDY FLINT,

Plaintiffs - Appellants, v. Nos. 24-8053 & 24-8054

STATE OF WYOMING; WYOMING GOVERNOR, a/k/a Mark Gordon; WYOMING ATTORNEY GENERAL, a/k/a Bridget Hill; WYOMING DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE DIRECTOR, a/k/a Doug Miyamoto,

Defendants - Appellees, and

ALBANY COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY, in his official capacity, a/k/a Edward Kurt Britzius; BIG HORN COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY, in her official capacity, a/k/a Marcia Bean; CAMPBELL COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY, in his official capacity, a/k/a

Nathan Henkes; CARBON COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY, in her official capacity, a/k/a Sarah Harkins; CONVERSE COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY, In his individual capacity, a/k/a Quentin Richardson; CROOK COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY, in his official capacity, a/k/a Joseph M Baron; FREMONT COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY, in his official capacity, a/k/a Patrick LeBrun; GOSHEN COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY, in his official capacity, a/k/a Eric Boyer; HOT SPRINGS COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY, in her official capacity, a/k/a Jill Logan; JOHNSON COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY, in his official capacity, a/k/a Tucker Ruby; LINCOLN COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY, in his official capacity, a/k/a Spencer Allred; NIOBRARA COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY, in her official capacity, a/k/a Anne Wasserburger; PARK COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY, in his official capacity, a/k/a Brian Skoric; PLATTE COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY, in his official capacity, a/k/a Douglas W Weaver; SHERIDAN COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY, in her official capacity, a/k/a Dianna Bennett; SUBLETTE COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY, in his official capacity, a/k/a Clayton Melinkovich; SWEETWATER COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY, in his official capacity, a/k/a Daniel Erramouspe; TETON COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY, in his official capacity, a/k/a Erin Weisman; UINTA COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY, in her official capacity, a/k/a Loretta Rae Howieson; WASHAKIE COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY, in his official capacity, a/k/a Anthony Barton; WESTON COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY, in his

official capacity, a/k/a Michael Stulken; LARAMIE COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY, in her official capacity, a/k/a Sylvia Miller Hackl; NATRONA COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY, in his official capacity, a/k/a Dan Itzen,

Defendants.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of Wyoming (D.C. No. 2:24-CV-00128-KHR)

Donna D. Domonkos (Brittany Thorpe with her on the briefs) of Domonkos & Thorpe, LLC, Cheyenne, Wyoming, for Plaintiffs-Appellants.

Jonathan D. Sater (Jenny L. Craig and Kellsie J. Singleton, with him on the brief) of the Wyoming Attorney General’s Office, Cheyenne, Wyoming, for Defendants-Appellees.

Before HARTZ, McHUGH, and MORITZ, Circuit Judges.

HARTZ, Circuit Judge.

Plaintiffs are businesses that cultivate, distribute, and sell hemp products in and outside of Wyoming. They seek injunctive and declaratory relief from a Wyoming statute, Senate Enrolled Act 24 (SEA 24), that regulates the production, processing, and sale of hemp products. See Wyo. Stat. Ann. §§ 11-51-101–104. The United States District Court for the District of Wyoming dismissed their complaint for failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted. Plaintiffs challenge this ruling on appeal, arguing that SEA 24 is preempted by a federal statute, violates the Dormant Commerce Clause doctrine, constitutes an unconstitutional regulatory

taking, and is void for vagueness. They also challenge the district court’s denial of their motion for a temporary restraining order or preliminary injunction.

Exercising jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291, we affirm the district court’s dismissal. We conclude that Plaintiffs (1) lack a substantial federal right to support their preemption claim, (2) have failed to demonstrate a Dormant Commerce Clause violation, (3) have not established a regulatory taking of their commercial personal property, and (4) have not shown that SEA 24 is unconstitutionally vague. In addition, we lack jurisdiction over Plaintiffs’ appeal of the denial of their motion for preliminary relief because the district court dismissed Plaintiffs’ complaint.

I. BACKGROUND Hemp and marijuana come from different varieties of the same species of plant, Cannabis sativa. “While marijuana generally refers to the cultivated plant used as a psychotropic drug . . . , hemp is cultivated for use in the production of a wide range of products.” Congressional Research Service, Defining Hemp: A Fact Sheet (2019) at 1, https://www.congress.gov/crs-product/R44742; [https://perma.cc/79BV- XHBD]. Compared to marijuana, hemp contains only small amounts of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC)—the chemical compound in cannabis responsible for producing psychoactive effects in humans. See Encyclopedia Britannica, hemp (2025), https://www.britannica.com/plant/hemp; [https://perma.cc/GG2K-33JG].

A. Regulatory Legislation 1. The 2018 Farm Bill For years the Controlled Substances Act (CSA) did not distinguish hemp from marijuana, so it was a prohibited controlled substance under federal law. See 21 U.S.C. § 802(16) (2017). That changed with the Agricultural Improvement Act of 2018 (7 U.S.C. §§ 1639o–1639s) (2018 Farm Bill), which excluded hemp from the definition of marijuana on Schedule I of the CSA. See 21 U.S.C. § 802(16)(B)(i) (“The terms ‘marihuana’ and ‘marijuana’ do not include . . . hemp, as defined in section 1639o of Title 7.”). The statute defined hemp as “the plant Cannabis sativa L. and any part of that plant, including the seeds thereof and all derivatives, extracts, cannabinoids, isomers, acids, salts, and salts of isomers, whether growing or not, with a delta-9 [THC] concentration of not more than 0.3 percent on a dry weight basis.” 7 U.S.C. § 1639o(1).

The 2018 Farm Bill “authorizes states to legalize hemp and regulate its production within their borders but generally preclude[s] states from interfering with the interstate transportation of hemp.” Serna v. Denver Police Dep’t, 58 F.4th 1167, 1168 (10th Cir. 2023). In particular, it allows states to take “primary regulatory authority over the production of hemp” after its regulatory plan receives approval from the United States Department of Agriculture. 7 U.S.C. § 1639p(a)(1); see id. § 1639p(b).

Of particular relevance to this appeal are two provisions that address the relationship between the federal and state governments in hemp regulation. First, the

statute’s antipreemption provision states that “[n]othing in this subsection [(relating to state hemp plans)] preempts or limits any law of a State . . . that—(i) regulates the production of hemp; and (ii) is more stringent than this subchapter.” Id. § 1639p(a)(3)(A) (emphasis added). Second, the transportation-through provision provides that (a) “[n]othing in [the Act] prohibits the interstate commerce of hemp (as defined in [the Act]) or hemp products,” and (b) “[n]o State . . . shall prohibit the transportation or shipment of hemp or hemp products produced in accordance with [the Act] through the State.” 7 U.S.C. § 1639o note (emphasis added).

2. SEA 24

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Green Room v. State of Wyoming, (10th Cir. 2025).

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