No word yet on reimbursements for people imposed under the now void WA Drugs Act

People who paid fines under Washington state’s old drug possession law are still waiting for the state to return their money, which could run into tens of millions of dollars. Lawyers representing them are pushing for a nationwide refund process rather than leaving each county to determine its own response.

Last February, the Washington State Supreme Court ruled against Blake that the state’s longstanding drug possession law was too broad and unconstitutional. That ruling meant that people like Adam Kravitz in Vancouver, Washington should be able to clear their records and receive a refund for the fines they paid. Kravitz was fined tens of thousands of dollars between 2010 and 2015 for a series of drug convictions.

He said that during those years he struggled to make minimum payments for his legal financial obligations (or LFOs) to avoid re-arrest. “I literally had to go in and drop change – like $ 5 at a time – while I was homeless just to try to stay out of the warrant,” Kravitz said. “And that was literally money I begged and botched on the street.”

But Kravitz was still jailed at least twice for failing to pay his fines.

After 2015, Kravitz graduated from the drug court and became a consultant. He is currently the executive director of a nonprofit called Outsiders Inn.

When the Blake verdict came that year, he was still paying for those fines. At that point, he called his district official’s office and was told that he did not need to make any further payments.

This week, Kravitz joined a class action lawsuit filed last spring by the Civil Survival Project against Washington state and all of its counties for refunds. Public Defender Association attorney Prachi Dave is representing these plaintiffs. She said there is anecdotal information that the counties are no longer collecting fines imposed under the old drug possession law. But she said there had been no systemic effort to cancel the remaining debt.

“Getting rid of this debt is really very important because until then, a credit reporting company that doesn’t know about Blake will still consider it an outstanding debt and that will continue to affect people,” she said.

Julia Reardon is another plaintiff in the lawsuit. She lives in Everett and said she was 40 when she was convicted of a drug offense in 2014.

“I was homeless; I had no income, ”she said, and her court-ordered fines skyrocketed.

“So I literally went in and out of jail for the first few years because I didn’t make my payments, because I had no way to pay them,” Reardon said. “I’ve really only just started paying for my LFOs I’ve gotten clean.”

She was treated by Snohomish County under a diversion program and is now a case manager and social services coordinator at Pioneer Human Services.

Reardon said their fines ran to nearly $ 4,000. The complaint states: “During the life of the debt, the interest on Ms. Reardon’s debt was approximately double her principal balance. She last paid LFOs to Snohomish County on or about June 2, 2020.

“I actually made my final payment just before State vs. Blake closed,” Reardon said.

That’s the money she gets back in the hopes of opening a savings account.

Attorney Prachi Dave said one goal of the lawsuit was to seek a comprehensive nationwide process to administer the refunds.

“Aside from the fact that it doesn’t make sense for this to be an individualized process, the fact that different counties have different practices makes it even more difficult,” said Dave.

For Kravitz and Reardon, the refunds are only part of their lives after the Blake ruling. They said it was vital for the courts to clear the files of people convicted under the old law in order to remove obstacles they face in finding work and a home.

Reardon also hired a lawyer to restore her right to possession of a firearm. Kravitz wants to delete his file so he can get a passport and travel.

“Criminals are not welcome in Canada,” he said. “We’re in the Pacific Northwest, going to Victoria or Vancouver or places beyond Puget Sound – that’s one thing we do in the Northwest and it’s been taken from us.”

Seattle attorney Kristin Ballinger is part of the outside law firm representing Counties King and Snohomish on the case. She said she had no comment on any pending litigation. The federal prosecutor’s office also declined to comment. The lawsuit now includes all 39 counties and Washington state as a defendant.

Meanwhile, the governor’s office this week outlined steps to help another population affected by the Blake decision, saying in a press release:

“Washington State has introduced a new process that allows individuals under active community oversight for certain drug possession convictions to petition Governor Jay Inslee directly to commute their sentences. Property convictions voided by the Washington Supreme Court as well as any obligation to pay related legal financial obligations.

There are currently over 1,200 individuals under active DOC community supervision only for drug possession invalidated by the Washington State Supreme Court in Blake. These people are now authorized to apply for commutation via this new program. “

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