An elderly woman just scored a landmark court win against her neighbor that forces him to stop smoking weed in his own home.
Josefa Ippolito–Shepherd, 76, of Washington, DC, said the “feces” or “skunk” smell emanating from 73-year-old next-door resident Thomas Cackett’s doorway made her dread coming home.
She said she even once vomited when her neighbor, who lives on the ground level of an adjoining home, lit up.
So she sued.
“I was not interested in money — I was interested in getting fresh air in my home,” Ippolito–Shepherd told the Washington Post.
After five years of representing herself, Ippolito-Shepherd finally won her case in the DC Court of Appeals. A lower-court judge had already ruled in her favor in 2023, but Cackett, stoner neighbor, appealed.
The higher court ended up siding with Ippolito–Sheppard, too, saying her “use and enjoyment of her own property” was more important than Cackett’s “use and enjoyment of his marijuana.’’
Cackett tried arguing that he only smoked once a day and never for longer than 5 minutes — all to cope with his many health conditions including skin cancer, chronic hepatitis, arthritis and sciatica.
“I am not Snoop Dogg,” Cackett insisted to the court.
But the panel said it found it “doubtful” that Cackett smoked for just a couple minutes a day.
The man has now been banned from smoking within 25 feet of Ippolito–Sheppard’s home — including on his own property.
Any violation could result in civil or criminal penalties for him.
Marijuana has been legal in DC since 2015, but the case sets a new precedent there and potentially across the US for annoyed neighbors.
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