Welcome to The Newsfeed.

It's been five years since the State versus Blake decision in Washington.

Today we're diving into how it's played out since and the ways it has and hasn't worked.

In 2021, the state Supreme Court declared drug possession charges unconstitutional, leading to a statewide effort to get rid of past possession convictions.

Since the decision, about 155,000 convictions have been vacated.

But that represents only a quarter to half of the eligible cases.

The Blake decision was a landmark decision, both for our state and nationally.

But what it didn't do was create.

It wasn't automatic.

It didn't create a process to equip somebody with, 'These are the steps I need to follow in order to get this relief.'

Early efforts were focused on those who would be most affected by getting rid of the charge, especially for people who were serving time for only a drug possession.

According to the Office of Public Defense, the majority of those folks had the conviction vacated within a year.

But a few years in, the process slowed significantly.

Organizations like Civil Survival got funding through the Office of Civil Legal Aid, which saw all of its Blake funding cut for the 2026 and 2027 fiscal years.

The Administrative Office of the Courts, which provides funds to cities and counties for Blake work, also saw a budget cut from $51 million in the last biennium to $6 million in this one.

That leaves local courts and organizations like Civil Survival with few resources to continue doing this work.

We know where the cases are.

We know how many there are.

And we know that this work will end eventually.

And these, you know, folks in our community are entitled to this relief.

I'm Paris Jackson.

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