Bill Filed In Washington Would Clear Those With Marijuana Misdemeanors
Updated February 4th, 2012.
Sponsored by State Representative Joe Fitzgibbon, and co-sponsored by a bipartisan assortment of twenty additional legislators, House Bill 1661 was filed yesterday in Washington State.
Washington State Capitol Building.
This bill would allow individuals in the state who have been charged with a misdemeanor involving cannabis possession to have it removed from their record. Essentially, this would apply the one ounce (28 grams) decrim from Initiative 502 retroactively to those already convicted. However, rather than applying to just an ounce, it’s allowing people to remove charges from RCW 69.50.4014, which is for possession of up to 40 grams.
This would allow hundreds, if not thousands of individuals to have their record cleared of a charge that never should have existed to begin with. The implications of having such a charge removed from someone’s record is drastic, as it could make the difference between someone getting a job, house or college loans.
We’ll have more on this bill as it progresses, including an interview with the bill’s sponsor, State Rep. Joe Fitzgibbon.
[Note – 2/12/2013: We were able to chat with Rep. Fitzgibbon for a Q&A, which you can find here.]
– TheJointBlog
420 College
that is definitely great news. One day the cannabis plant may be free and take all of it’s followers with it.
marcus
this is oustanding. round of applause to those involvd!
tielman.karovsky
About time too.
Madryt
I have learned several good stuff right here. Definitely bookmarking for revisiting. I wonder how much time is put in to creating such an excellent informative website.
waltinseattle
they steal a dollar and give back a nickle. we call it a victory. what is wrong with that scenario?
Fela Cutey
Release our people! And go fuck yourselves you idiots! So we must celebrate all this genocide and torture? Politicians go to hell!
tielman.karovsky
Sanity is returning. Someone has to show the way.
Steve Sarich
There are a long list of supporters for this bill…bravo! The name conspicuously absent from the list is Representative Roger Goodman. Instead, Goodman is trying to pass a zero tolerance DUID law for those with commercial drivers’ licenses! 5ng/ml was apparently no ridiculous enough for Rep. Goodman.
Goodman took thousands of dollars in donations from the medical cannabis community to help him get re-elected in Novemeber. How quickly some people forget. I don’t think the patients will forget in the next election when Roger is passing the hat.
James Barber Sr.
If this bill passes, my record gets cleaned for the wrongful prosecution of 9.59 grams whilst being a cannabis patient. In essence, I was denied an affirmative defense by our
lovely judicial branch via a motion by the prosecution I do not have any medical condition
only to be rebutted after my conviction by a federal administrative law judge for social security in which all my medical condition(s) documentation was before the judge and she found I had 5 medical conditions under state law and specifically the ones I claimed
in my prosecution.
I have filed a $60 million dollar tort notice to the risk management of the county in which their outhouse lawyers called me to let me know they are not accepting the claim
under state laws… i.e. it’s a federal case not a state damages claim. 🙂
My next step is to file one with the state…
I also look forward to seeing this become reality.. and not just window dressing for brownie points in donations..
James Barber Sr.
americansforsafeaccess.org
legal and legislative ambassador
for SW Wa.