Washington State officials approved over $276,000 of reimbursements since the online portal was launched late in July. This is in response to a state Supreme Court ruling that invalidated the state’s felony drugs law in 2021. This is in addition to the more than $9,000,000 already paid through local municipalities.
According to the Administrative Office of the Courts in the state, “as a result of this ruling, known as State V. Blake any Blake related convictions are eligible to be removed from one’s criminal records (vacated), and any legal financial obligation (LFOs), paid as a consequence, qualify for financial reimbursement.”
Anyone who is convicted of drug possession before or on the date of the Blake ruling, February 25, 2021, may be eligible to have their conviction vacated. They will also receive reimbursement for costs.
The Olympian received a interview with Robin Zimmermann about the program. Zimmermann told The Olympian that the paper reported the figures for the first time on Wednesday.
He said that Blake team members were working to process applications and collaborate with justice partners on outreach efforts in order to inform Blake-affected individuals throughout Washington State of the relief options now available.
has allocated almost $100 million for the process. This includes $47 million in processing possession charge vacations, and $51 million in refunding LFOs.
Most of the $9.4million has already been distributed to municipalities. In a post Blake fix, legislators established a pool of $10 million “for cities to reimburse legal financial obligations and collections costs previously paid by defendants who have had their convictions vacated.”
Individuals may submit applications for reimbursements online. However, applications can only be submitted after the convictions have been vacated. This is a separate procedure. Refunds are issued by check once they have been approved.
Officials say they want refunds processed within 90-days. Online portals allow applicants to check on the status of their refund.
The ruling in 2021 Blake effectively nullified the state’s drug possession criminalization laws. However, the state reenacted the prohibition with statutory changes to pass constitutional muster, and lower possession penalty compared to previous law.
In the past legislative session, a number other reforms in drug policy were made by the state.
Among them, Governor. Jay Inslee, a Democrat from Washington State, signed into law a bill to prevent workers from being subjected to employment discrimination because of their legal use of marijuana. He also approved a separate measure to authorize interstate cannabis commerce pending federal policy changes.
Inslee also signed a bill into law that encourages research into psilocybin, and creates a pilot program for therapeutic access to psychedelics in mental health treatments. The governor vetoed sections of the bill that, in his words, “nolonger align with its intent.”
The Washington State Department of Health announced recently that it will be providing $1.3 million to 11 community-based organizations for the purpose of “youth tobacco and cannabis use prevention.” Revenues from this program come from tax and fees on legal marijuana.
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Image courtesy Markus Spiske.
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