BY DAVID KROMAN / CROSSCUT
Originally published March 12, 2021 on Crosscut.com
When Kelly Vomacka first read that the Washington Supreme Court had struck down the law criminalizing drug possession in the state, she was in disbelief. The Blake decision, named for the woman at its center, was not at all on Vomacka’s radar. While she was peripherally aware of the case, she would not have guessed that this is where it would lead.
In this, she was not alone attorneys, advocates, lawmakers, even the lawyer who argued before the nine justices on Shannon Blake’s behalf, were all surprised that the court would take the case of a woman with drugs in her jeans pocket to such lengths.
Court’s drug possession ruling upends WA’s criminal justice system
In the Blake decision, the Washington Supreme Court voided most drug possession cases in the state. The implications will be huge.
by
Washington State’s Supreme Court Building, also known as the Temple of Justice, photographed on Wednesday, Oct. 21, 2020, from Heritage Park in Olympia, Wash. (Jovelle Tamayo for Crosscut)
When Kelly Vomacka first read that the Washington Supreme Court had struck down the law criminalizing drug possession in the state, she was in disbelief. The Blake decision, named for the woman at its center, was not at all on Vomacka’s radar. While she was peripherally aware of the case, she would not have guessed that this is where it would lead.