Washington
Washington Courts Clearing Drug Convictions, Refunding Fines
SEATTLE (AP) — Folks convicted below Washington’s longtime felony drug possession regulation are beginning to get their data cleared, and their court-imposed fines refunded.
It’s a consequence of the Washington Supreme Court docket’s groundbreaking resolution to strike down the regulation in February 2021. However the treatment to this point has been difficult, as every county units its personal course.
In “State v. Blake,” the Washington Supreme Court docket discovered the state’s ban on easy drug possession to be unconstitutional. That’s as a result of it didn’t require proof that an individual knowingly possessed unlawful medicine. The ruling had rapid impacts – law enforcement officials stopped arresting individuals for drug possession, and prosecutors had individuals launched from jail that day.
The extra large process underway now’s to clear 5 a long time of previous convictions, re-sentence individuals already in custody for different violations, and refund the fines paid by individuals convicted below that regulation.
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In King County, prosecutors say they’ve created a authorized meeting line to deal with these circumstances as shortly as doable.
“That is taking place whether or not you ask us to or not, it’s taking place,” Senior Lawyer Laura Petregal advised KUOW. “We’re doing it.”
Prosecutors are in search of judicial orders on their very own, with none motion by these convicted, working backward from the latest circumstances. So, when you verify your courtroom file, it might present {that a} choose in King County Superior Court docket has already ordered your conviction to be vacated.
“We’re going via and proactively dismissing these circumstances, and it’s not so simple as pushing a button, proper?” Petregal stated.
The following step is usually to confirm how a lot every individual paid in fines. At that time, the individual should apply to the clerk’s workplace for a refund and supply their present handle.
“We’ve had individuals come into the clerk’s workplace and apply for the refunds that the courtroom order made them eligible for,” stated David Hackett, a senior civil deputy with the prosecutor’s workplace. “And King County has issued checks for $77,342.44 over a complete of 176 circumstances.”
There’s much more to go. Hackett estimates that there could also be as much as 150,000 eligible convictions going again to 1971 statewide, with 54,000 of them in King County. He stated the method can be much more troublesome after they get past the digital courtroom document, and have to substantiate older convictions on microfiche.
However Hackett stated he is aware of that clearing these data will make a major distinction in individuals’s lives.
“A person who’s making use of for a job, or who’s making use of for housing, or different necessary issues coping with life, can honestly reply that they’ve by no means been convicted of a easy drug possession offense,” he stated.
Hackett stated King County has fewer latest circumstances since prosecutors have de-emphasized charging individuals with felony drug possession over the previous decade. So he stated their contact data is much less updated for the individuals affected by the Blake ruling. That’s one cause prosecutors are in search of to proactively clear convictions with out notifying these affected.
Benton County in south-central Washington has a bigger variety of newer drug possession circumstances and has taken a unique method. Chief Deputy Prosecutor Ryan Brown stated his workplace despatched letters to individuals with qualifying convictions below “Blake.” These individuals had been referred to a web site the place they might search to have their data cleared and their fines refunded. Benton County has issued $1.5 million in refunds to this point.
(This spring the state Legislature offered funding for counties to implement the method and subject the checks.)
By the top of March, King County had vacated 5,040 convictions. Pierce County has vacated 3,777, based on prosecutors. Every county is now establishing its personal course of.
Pierce County resident Matthew Seed stated he’s had main frustrations with acquiring his refund for fines paid to Pierce County. Seed stated each Thurston and Pierce counties vacated his 15-year-old convictions this previous February. And Thurston County issued his $1,200 refund shortly afterward. However Pierce County has but to refund his $1,528 in fines.
Seed stated he’s made repeated calls to the clerk’s workplace, which administers the refunds, however hasn’t been capable of get any clarification on the timeline.
“I really feel like if I don’t proceed to be the squeaky wheel and say one thing, I’m simply going to get forgotten about with this,” he stated.
Seed stated he’s been sober for 5 years. He stated he wants the refund to pay for extra dependable transportation to his job.
“I purchased a truck from any individual that wasn’t operating once I bought it. My automobile had damaged down. I fastened it and I simply wish to license it,” he stated.
The Pierce County Clerk’s Workplace responded that they’ve now issued Seed’s refund, as a part of refunds totaling $177,091.57 to this point. They stated their refunds had been despatched later than another counties as a result of Pierce County waited for state funding to offset these funds.
Seed stated he’s glad for the Blake ruling. However he stated the hurt created by his convictions and fines far exceeded the reduction he’s getting now.
“They garnished my wages to get the cash,” he stated, “and charged me to do this! Not solely that, however I’ve been denied jobs as a result of I didn’t go a prison background verify, a number of instances.”
Prachi Dave is coverage and advocacy director at The Public Defender Affiliation, which filed a class-action lawsuit to hunt refunds for individuals statewide. She stated the truth that every county has its personal course of and timing for issuing the refunds is inflicting confusion.
“We proceed to listen to that, and I believe it’s a results of the truth that this can be a very patchwork system,” she stated. Dave stated the burden on individuals to get their document cleared and search their refunds is one other variable.
“That’s plenty of work for individuals who have already got an amazing deal on their plate,” she stated. “That’s going to be laborious, and these processes will not be essentially simple to navigate proper now.”
There’s a extra uniform course of coming – ultimately the state’s Administrative Workplace of the Courts will develop into a central clearinghouse to deal with the convictions and ship refunds, however that isn’t scheduled to occur till the summer season of 2023.
In the meantime the state continues to be attempting to determine whether or not to penalize drug possession in any respect. After the “Blake” resolution, legislators made easy drug possession a misdemeanor offense, with an emphasis on options to prison costs. However that regulation can be set to run out subsequent summer season.
Copyright 2022 The Related Press. All rights reserved. This materials will not be revealed, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Washington
Jakub Vrana plays first game for Washington Capitals at Capital One Arena in over 1,200 days
Jakub Vrana jumped onto the ice inside Capital One Arena wearing a Washington Capitals jersey on Sunday for the first time in nearly three and a half years (1,263 days). The last time Vrana dressed in Capitals red in front of a Washington home crowd came on April 8, 2021, when the Capitals fell 4-2 to the Boston Bruins.
That game came during Peter Laviolette’s first season in charge of the club, and the Capitals’ lineup featured names like Zdeno Chara, Justin Schultz, and Daniel Carr. Vrana was dealt to the Detroit Red Wings just four days later, and since then, he and the Capitals have both gone through a world of change. But Vrana’s heart has remained in DC.
“I want to be part of this team. I love this team, and it’s great to be back here for the camp and try my best to earn a spot on the team,” he said Thursday. “It means a lot, man. This team means a lot to me.”
Capitals fans gave Vrana loud applause when he was announced as part of the team’s starting lineup on Sunday. He skated with Hendrix Lapierre and Ethen Frank on Washington’s top line against the Philadelphia Flyers. Vrana was a minus-3 in the game but recorded a team-high 5 shots and six individual scoring chances in 14:18 of ice time.
Hey there, V pic.twitter.com/eQ86cnNVZk
— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) September 22, 2024
Vrana’s love for the franchise that drafted him 13th overall in 2014 was evident almost immediately after he departed in the 2021 trade. “I have great memories with this team, built great relationships within this city, met great people, had great teammates, played in front of amazing fans, and that will always stay in my heart,” he penned on Instagram then.
Shoulder surgery and a well-known stint in the NHL/NHLPA Player Assistance Program led to Vrana playing just 37 games for Detroit in the 2020-21 and 2021-22 seasons combined, so he had to wait a while to make his first return to Washington. The night finally came on February 21, 2023, nearly two years after his move.
The Capitals greeted the 2018 Stanley Cup champion with a tribute video featuring his time with the AHL’s Hershey Bears and his first NHL goal. The video ended with an image of him hosting the Cup over his head in Vegas, and fans gave the Czech winger a standing ovation.
Heading into that game, Vrana said of his time in Washington, “We were like one family here.”
i think oshie was watching the tribute 😭😭 pic.twitter.com/nATcCu08e1
— mol 🧸 (@molfully) February 22, 2023
Vrana was traded for the second time in his career just over a week later to the St. Louis Blues, scoring 10 goals in 20 games.
After the season, he came back to Washington, DC, attending a Washington Nationals game alongside Alex Ovechkin. The two reunited on the same field where they had a legendary celebration of their Cup win in June 2018.
Vrana then started the 2023-24 campaign back with the Blues but couldn’t find the same offensive success with them he did at the end of the prior season. St. Louis ultimately decided to waive Vrana in December, and he spent most of the year with the AHL’s Springfield Thunderbirds.
With Springfield, Vrana made his first return to Hershey’s Giant Center to play the Bears six years and seven months after last dressing in Hershey’s chocolate and white. During the game’s first television timeout, the Bears honored Vrana with their own tribute video.
Vrana looked up at the jumbotron as the video played. He waved to the crowd multiple times and tapped his stick on the ice, clearly touched by the tribute.
Vrana, at the Capitals’ 2024 Training Camp on a professional tryout agreement, hopes to put his time in the AHL behind him. He has a tough journey ahead of him to win one of the few open spots on Washington’s roster, but he took the first major leap of that journey on Sunday.
Vrana has already successfully drawn the attention of Washington’s general manager, Chris Patrick. Patrick has been with the Capitals since the team drafted Vrana and was closely involved with the forward’s development as Washington’s former Director of Minor League Operations.
“You can tell he’s taking this seriously,” Patrick said. “He doesn’t think anything is being handed to him, and that was kind of the point. We want to have a competitive camp. We don’t want to just give away spots to guys, we want them to earn it. He’s in a group of several players that are in that position, fighting for one or two spots.”
Washington will have another few weeks in camp and five more preseason games to make their final roster decisions. Vrana and the Capitals fans he so clearly appreciates will be hoping he has a spot won and a new contract by the time the regular season opens on October 12 against the New Jersey Devils.
Jacksonville’s Feletta Smith and Beverly McClain are both survivors of violence who arose from the darkness to found support groups for other survivors.
Both will join more than 3,000 others, including others from Jacksonville, who have lost loved ones to violent crime, or been victims of it, at Tuesday’s Crime Survivors Speak March on Washington. The first by a national grassroots movement centering the needs of victims of crime, they seek to urge lawmakers to expand support for crime victims and their families and pass reforms to break cycles of crime.
Smith survived being shot 13 times on Feb. 29 of 2004, as Thomas Bevel killed her boyfriend Garrick Springfield and 13-year-old Phillip Sims in her home in the Brentwood area, police said. Bevel ultimately received two death sentences. And as she healed, Smith began Beyond the Bullet to cultivates a safe place for victims of gun violence, encourage them to take action, and celebrate the lives of those who were killed.
For her, meeting with other survivors of violence is a key reason to go to Washington.
“We can talk about victims’ rights and just hear how we feel about gun violence as well,” Smith said just before leaving for the march. “I was chosen to go to the White House to speak about gun violence, so that will be very exciting for me.”
McClain will be there as well, 19 years after her son Andre was murdered. Devastated by his death, she started Families of Slain Children as a way to help other families in the same situation. Outside its headquarters on North Myrtle Avenue is a memorial wall commemorating almost 3,000 crime victims, with room for no more.
Now McClain wants to add her voice to the chorus asking lawmakers for change.
“The more, the better,” McClain says. “The more ears, the better. Our voices will be heard. We need to come together so we can learn to support each other more, and better.”
Many of the local crime victims and march participants left for Washington, D.C., early Sunday on a bus from Families of Slain Children’s North Myrtle Avenue office.
The march was organized by Crime Survivors for Safety and Justice, a national network of more than 200,000 crime victims advocating for a justice system that prioritizes healing, prevention, and recovery, its organizers said.
The group says it’s helped get more than 100 criminal justice and public safety reforms passed in state legislatures. And the march comes on the 40th anniversary of the Victims of Crime Act, the 30th anniversary of the Violence Against Women Act, and the 20th anniversary of the Crime Victims Rights Act.
Planned events include a march and rally with survivors at Union Square, and a Healing Festival on the National Mall. And several survivors and advocates, including Smith, will meet with congressional representatives and senators to discuss policy priorities, share personal stories and advocate for programs that address the root causes of crime.
McClain, who helps the families of those who died with grief counseling, food or just someone to talk to, she hopes someone listens to their pleas this week in Washington. Not a day goes by that she doesn’t think of her son “and other sons and daughters who I deal with.”
“It doesn’t get any better; it doesn’t get any easier,” McClain said. “There are too many.”
And Smith, who said she is worried about how many young people are dying because they have access to high-powered guns at such an early age, also hopes they listen.
“We are telling our stories; we are voicing how we feel,” Smith said. “We are coming to heal. We want to have the right to heal, so we want to have someone listen to us and listen to our thoughts and our feelings. Put us at the table with the lawmakers and just let them know how we feel as survivors of these violent crimes.”
Washington
Summary of the Washington Capitals 1993-94 Season: Coaching Change And Beating The Penguins In The Postseason
Photo: NHL
With the Washington Capitals celebrating their 50th anniversary, NoVa Caps is summarizing each of the previous 49 seasons of the team, from earliest to most recent. The series continues with the 1993-1994 season, their 20th season.
SUMMARY
The 1993-1994 season saw the Capitals finish with a 39-35-10 record for 88 points, which ranked third in the Atlantic Division. They ranked 15th out of 26 for goals scored and 12th out of 26 for goals given up. [The NHL added two more expansion teams: the Florida Panthers, based in Miami, and the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim.]
With team captain Dale Hunter suspended for the first 21 games, the Capitals seemed rudderless as they lost their first six games. Fortunately, they won nine of their next ten games but then lost their next four. Injuries did not help as they lost several key players during late November and December.
Photo: Heritage Art
The Capitals could not gain any consistency and found themselves 20-23-4 on January 27. Thus, they fired Head Coach, Terry Murray, and replaced him with Jim Schoenfeld.
They rebounded, winning seven of their next eight. During that time, Peter Bondra scored five goals in a single game in a 6-3 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning. Their record under Schoenfeld that season was 19-11-6 as they qualified for the playoffs.
The Capitals once again faced the Pittsburgh Penguins in the playoffs. Good things sometimes happen when you least expect it. Few expected the Caps to break their string of playoff losses to the Pens in 1993-94, since Pittsburgh entered as the No. 2 seed and Washington slipped in as the No. 7. But the Capitals won the series in six games, winning the finale 6-3 at home. Sadly, the joy was temporary, as the Caps then fell to the top-seeded Rangers in five games.
Notable Draft Picks
- Brendan Witt (D) – (1st round – pick #11)
- Jason Allison (C) – (1st round – pick #17)
- Patrick Boileau (C) – (3rd round – pick #69)
- Andrew Brunette (LW) — (7th round – pick #174)
General Manager: David Poile
Head Coach:
- Terry Murray — through January 27, 1994
- Jim Schoenfeld — since January 27, 1994
Captain: Kevin Hatcher
Leaders
Goals: Dmitri Khristich (29), Mike Ridley (26)
Assists: Mike Ridley (44), Michael Pivonka (36)
Points: Mike Ridley (70), Dmitri Khristich (58)
Penalty Minutes: Craig Berube (305), Enrico Ciccone (174)
Major Trades
- June 15, 1993
- Capitals acquire: Kevin Kaminski
- Quebec Nordiques acquire: Mark Matier
- June 20, 1993
- Capitals acquire: Future Considerations (Enrico Ciccone)
- Dallas Stars acquire: Paul Cavallini
- June 26, 1993 (2 Trades)
- Capitals acquire: 1993 7th round pick (Andrew Brunette), Craig Berube
- Calgary Flames acquire: Brad Schlegel, 1993 5th round pick
- March 21, 1994
- Capitals acquire: Jim Johnson
- Dallas Stars acquire: Alan May, 1995 7th round draft pick
- March 21, 1994
- Capitals acquire: Joe Reekie
- Tampa Bay Lightning acquire: Enrico Ciccone, 1994 3rd round pick, 1995 conditional 5th round pick
- March 21, 1994
- Capitals acquire: Joe Juneau
- Boston Bruins acquire: Al Iafrate
Previous Summaries
1974-75 Season
1975-76 Season
1976-77 Season
1977-78 Season
1978-79 Season
1979-80 Season
1980-81 Season
1981-82 Season
1982-83 Season
1983-84 Season
1984-85 Season
1985-86 Season
1986-87 Season
1987-88 Season
1988-89 Season
1989-90 Season
1990-91 Season
1991-92 Season
1992-93 Season
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