Seven years after Washington state voters passed Initiative 502 legalizing recreational marijuana, Gov. Jay Inslee signed a bill into law last week that will require courts to vacate misdemeanor weed possession convictions for those who were 21 years or older at the time of their arrest. The law could impact nearly 60,000 individuals with small-time pot convictions.
Under the new law, anyone convicted of misdemeanor possession will need to apply for a criminal vacation in the same court that charged them. The charge will then be removed from their criminal records and they will not be required to disclose the conviction on employment, housing, or other applications. This comes over a year after Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan and City Attorney Pete Holmes announced that Seattle’s municipal court would vacate convictions and dismiss charges for misdemeanor weed possession. King and Pierce County prosecutors decided to dismiss all pending weed possession charges in their jurisdictions as well.
While this new legislation has been praised by advocates for cannabis, civil liberties, and criminal justice reform, there is some resistance in the eastern part of the state, otherwise known as the Alabama of Washington.
The Yakima Herald reported Monday that Yakima County Prosecuting Attorney Joe Brusic is prepared to oppose applications for those trying to get their weed charges vacated. “Individuals in Yakima County can call an attorney, and we can discuss it,” Brusic told the paper. “But we are not going to agree to it just because it is legal now. When they were convicted, they were breaking the law.”
According to the state Attorney General office, Brusic’s opposition might not matter. A spokesperson for the office said, “Courts vacate convictions, not prosecutors.” She advises anyone with questions to consult an attorney.
Washington State Senator Joe Nguyen, who sponsored the legislation and does not mince words, told me in a phone call, "If you say you won't vacate these convictions because people 'weren't playing by the rules,' you're a fucking asshole. The prosecutor has no role in this. The fucking irony of the prosecutor ignoring the law."
During the bill's hearing, Sen. Nguyen dropped fewer "fucks," but he also pointed out that the bill will help people who've been convicted of low-level weed offenses get on with their lives.
“What we’re doing today is righting the wrong of injustice in the past," Sen. Nguyen said at the public hearing considering the legislation. "Often times our marijuana convictions have disproportionately impacted communities of color, and really all we're asking for is that something that is legal now should be vacated for previous convictions." This includes, Nguyen said, one of his constituents who is unable to chaperone her child's school field trips because of an old misdemeanor for pot possession. "This is really a matter of equity and justice and making sure we are aligning our values with our laws," the senator continued.
The bill was also praised by Republican Sen. Jeff Holy, a former officer with the Spokane Police Department. "Being a cop, I've been an advocate for reentry programs and helping people actually get back on track and do the right thing and try and get some obstacles out of their way that don't serve any purpose," Sen. Holy said at the hearing, "I see this bill getting pretty close to doing that. I like it."
Initiative 502 failed to pass in Yakima County, an agricultural community where you might think people are in favor of introducing profitable crops to the local economy. However, it's also a conservative stronghold and one of several counties in the eastern part of the state, along with Douglas, Okanogan, Grant, Benton, and Spokane, that considered or passed moratoriums on weed farms.
According to the FBI, nearly 660,000 people were arrested for cannabis in the U.S. in 2017, the latest data available. Nearly 90 percent were for simple possession.
