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A nonprofit representing formerly incarcerated Washington residents is suing the state and its 39 counties in an attempt to address one of the loose ends left by the state Supreme Court’s landmark opinion in February ruling all simple drug possession charges unconstitutional. The Seattle-based Civil Survival Project filed the class action lawsuit on Thursday, April 15, in …

Lawsuit Challenges State and Counties to Refund Financial Penalties for Drug Charges Read More »

In the wake of the Washington Supreme Court’s ruling in the “Blake” decision on February 25, people can no longer be arrested for simple drug possession in Washington state. Officials must now chart a new path to address past convictions and current substance use. Even supporters of drug decriminalization say they were caught by surprise …

By Throwing Out Drug Law, Washington Supreme Court Creates Massive Fallout Read More »

Reverberations are spreading from a state Supreme Court opinion that last month struck down Washington’s decades-old drug possession statute as unconstitutional, sending ripple effects through a legal system that’s grappling with how to remedy past harm while facing an unprecedented backlog of criminal cases created by the coronavirus pandemic. There’s general but not unanimous consensus the …

Now that Washington’s drug possession law has been struck down, swamped legal system faces massive do-over Read More »

Two weeks after the state Supreme Court dropped its decision in State vs. Blake, ramifications are coming in waves like a hit of acid, a substance that is no longer illegal to possess under state law, along with meth, heroin and cocaine. Though local and state officials are unsure what to do next and, more importantly, who …

Officials grapple with questions raised by court voiding state’s drug possession law Read More »

A group of defense attorneys is suing the state, King, and Snohomish counties, to recover penalties paid in simple drug possession cases. WA Rep explains deeper goal behind bill to decriminalize drugs In late February, the state Supreme Court ruled the state’s felony simple drug possession law was unconstitutional. The courts argument was rooted in …

Group sues Washington state, pair of counties over drug possession cases Read More »

In the Blake decision, the Washington Supreme Court voided most drug possession cases in the state. The implications will be huge. When Kelly Vomacka first read that the Washington Supreme Court had struck down the law criminalizing drug possession in the state, she was in disbelief. The Blake decision, named for the woman at its …

Court’s drug possession ruling upends WA’s criminal justice system Read More »