This week on The Impact we examine the process of erasing drug possession convictions from a law ruled unconstitutional and the state’s plan to refund 50 years of associated fees and fines.
The changes stem from the drug law struck down in 2021 by the Washington State Supreme Court known as the Blake decision.
The case is named after a Spokane County woman who was convicted of felony possession of a controlled substance after jail employees found a small bag of methamphetamine in the coin pocket of the jeans she was wearing. According to court records, the defendant argued that she had never used methamphetamine, did not know the meth was there, and that a friend who bought the jeans secondhand had given them to her two days earlier. Her boyfriend also testified that she did not use drugs. Ultimately she was convicted in 2016.
In a 5 to 4 ruling, on February 25, 2021, a majority of justices threw out her conviction and the law that was used to convict her. The majority ruled the Washington’s felony simple possession drug statute unconstitutional because it did not distinguish between intentional and unintentional drug possession.
In striking down the law, the court opened the door for everyone previously convicted under the statute to have their convictions vacated and request refunds for legal financial obligations, such as fines or fees that they paid. It also creates an opportunity for people convicted on multiple charges including drug possession to request resentencing. The 2021 court ruling impacts drug possession cases going back to 1971.
“When you’re talking about the population that has served their time and just needs to vacate, it can have a huge effect. A felony on somebody’s record can sometimes prevent housing, jobs, even something like going on a field trip with your child,” said Grace O’Connor, Managing Attorney, Blake Defense Program, Washington State Office of Public Defense.
Some 60,000 convictions have already been processed, but an estimated 200,000 felony drug possession cases and an additional 150,000 misdemeanor marijuana cases may be impacted, according to the Administrative Office of the Courts.
There are so many convictions implicated by the ruling that state court administrators are planning to launch an online refund portal this summer.
Chris Stanley is the Chief Financial Officer for the Administrative Office of the Courts, which is overseeing the Blake Refund Bureau.
“Well over 200,000 individuals that we know of having possession convictions. I want to say at least half of that is eligible for a refund,” said Stanley. “We are going to be launching a public portal where folks can search to see if they’re eligible for a legal financial obligation reimbursement we call an LFO. This is a reimbursement of any fines and fees that they might have paid as part of their sentence. Folks will be able to search that. We’ll have court staff and clerks entering information from the court side, certifying who is eligible. And then Administrative Office of the Courts staff, Blake Refund Bureau staff, will be able to check to see, okay someone has applied, we’ve got a certification from the clerk that that they’re eligible for a reimbursement. We cut a check. That’s the goal.”
“Someone might have a DNA fee. They might have a blood draw fee. They may have a booking fee. They may have the standard criminal fee and fine that accompanies the possession charge. All of those may have been assessed. Now the court may have waived some of them at the time of sentence or waived some dependent on a diversion program. Every case is different, but that that’s typically what we’re seeing in the reimbursements,” said Stanley. “It can vary between a thousand and $5,000.”
Once the Blake Refund Bureau Portal is active, it should be accessible through the state court system’s website.
“So we’ll be launching the portal on our website sometime in July, hopefully. As with any I.T. project, there’s always possible delays,” said Stanley. “Have patience at first. The data in the system is only as good as what we have in the system. So we’re constantly getting data from courts and that data is being constantly updated because we’re finding cases. We’re still finding cases. A lot of the work, you know, folks ask me how long this takes, and my typical response is 7 to 10 years, because a lot of the cases that we’re going to end up dealing with that will take the longest amount of time are beyond what I call the computerized era . Pre-nineties convictions in the eighties are largely on paper. Clerks are going to have to search their manual files for these. So it’s going to take time to get those records into our system and certified that someone’s eligible for a reimbursement. So if you believe you’re eligible and you check and your name doesn’t come up as a result that’s found, check back again in a week or a month and be patient. We’re constantly getting updated information,” he continued.