On June 27, 2017, a three-judge panel for the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals vacated a district court ruling that nixed Denver-based Fourth Corner Credit Union’s bid to receive a master account with the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City.  Fourth Corner has been waiting since the end of 2015 for such ruling.  The ruling effectively allows for the credit union to continue with its lawsuit against the Federal Reserve in an attempt to obtain its master account so it can function as a state-legal credit union in Colorado.

What does this mean?

The opinion relied on the fact that the case is not about Fourth Corner violating federal drug laws. U.S. Circuit Judge Robert E. Bacharach wrote:  “The district court dismissed the amended complaint, reasoning that Fourth Corner would use the master account to violate federal drug laws. This ruling was erroneous,” Essentially, the district court relied on suspicions about what Fourth Corner might do and such standard is not sufficient to approve a motion to dismiss.

Fourth Corner still has a long road to haul until it can reach a resolution, but this ruling is a positive step towards normalization of state-legal marijuana in Colorado.