This sudden judicially ordered decriminalization of drugs in Washington has state lawmakers in Olympia struggling to form some kind of legislative fix, which could take the form of a decriminalization of a legislatively ordered formal decriminalization of drug possession. Those charged with drug possession under the state law are being freed from jails across the state and arrest warrants are being revoked.
The Feb. 25 decision in State of Washington v. Blake by the Supreme Court of the State of Washington is also urging local authorities to dismiss awaiting accusations against drug defendants across the state.
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The 5–4 ruling arises from claims against Shannon Blake of Spokane, who challenged the law after being convicted in 2016 of possession of a controlled substance, a felony that could lead to a penalty of prison time and a $10,000 fine.
A small bag of methamphetamine was reportedly found in the coin pocket of Blake’s jeans. She maintained a friend had bought the jeans secondhand and that she was uninformed of the bearing of the drugs. A trial court concluded Blake “had not met her burden to prove that her possession was unwitting,” and sentenced her.
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Blake filed a petition, but the Court of Appeals held that the law didn’t require the state to prove intent on the part of the defendant.
“Washington’s strict liability drug possession statute … makes possession of a controlled substance a felony punishable by up to five years in prison, plus a hefty fine; leads to deprivation of numerous other rights and opportunities; and does all this without proof that the defendant even knew they possessed the substance,” Justice Sheryl Gordon McCloud wrote for the majority.
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“This case presents an issue of first impression for this court: Does this strict liability drug possession statute with these substantial penalties for such innocent, passive conduct exceed the legislature’s police power?” McCloud wrote.
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Washington was the only U.S. state that didn’t need prosecutors to prove intent under its felony drug possession law, which runs afoul of both the state and federal constitutions, she wrote.
“The due process clauses of the state and federal constitutions, along with controlling decisions of this court and the United States Supreme Court, compel us to conclude that the answer is yes—this exceeds the State’s police power.”
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The lack of criminal intent in the law isn’t necessarily an issue, the justice wrote, because “the legislature can still create strict liability crimes in certain circumstances … to protect the public from the harms that have come with modern life by putting the burden of care on those in the best position to avoid those harms,” but the “government cannot criminalize essentially innocent conduct.”
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