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Seattle City Attorney wants 86 pot tickets dismissed as racially biased

Seattle City Attorney: “Seattle is a city that recognizes we’re still in a transition period . . . We want to educate first, ticket last.”

By JC Sevcik
Seattle Mayor Ed Murray shows off his bag of marijuana he purchased at Cannabis City, Washington's first recreational marijuana store in Seattle. UPI/Jim Bryant
Seattle Mayor Ed Murray shows off his bag of marijuana he purchased at Cannabis City, Washington's first recreational marijuana store in Seattle. UPI/Jim Bryant | License Photo

SEATTLE, Sept. 22 (UPI) -- The Seattle City Attorney's office requested the city dismiss all 86 citations issued for the public consumption of marijuana so far in 2014.

City Attorney Pete Holmes, who publicly supported I-502, the initiative to legalize recreational marijuana in the state of Washington, and was one of the first people in the city to publicly purchase recreational marijuana under the new law after its passing, has advised the Seattle City Council that all of the tickets issued so far for public pot smoking should be thrown out as they reflect a clear racial bias against black males as well as targeting of the poor.

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Additionally, Holmes is requesting the citations be dismissed because more than 80 percent of the tickets were issued by one officer, Randy Jokela, who publicly opposed I-502 and made it his personal mission to issue as many tickets as possible, many of these complete with personalized messages aimed at Holmes, addressing them "Attn: Petey Holmes."

According to Seattle Post-Intelligencer, almost half the citations issued between January and June were issued to people who are homeless or living in shelters, transitional or low-income housing, or motels.

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"Enforcement needs to be implemented in a much more even-handed manner," Holmes told a city council meeting.

Holmes said Seattle's goal isn't issuing loads of citations, but correcting people's behavior to bring it in compliance with state laws.

"Seattle is a city that recognizes we're still in a transition period," Holmes said. "We want to educate first, ticket last."

Deputy Seattle Police Chief Carmen Best told the Seattle Times she's behind Holmes' move to dismiss, saying upholding the citations Jokela wrote would be "unethical and irresponsible" because people were cited by an officer with "political motivation."

Best told the paper Seattle police have issued a new directive, hoping to clarify for the public -- and patrol officers -- how public marijuana consumption laws will be enforced.

The directive requires officers to give verbal warnings before resorting to a ticket. Officers are also to document the verbal warnings they give in an incident report. Police are instructed not to seize a person's stash as long as they're not carrying more than state law allows.

Further, officers are not to enforce public consumption laws on private property, on residential balconies or in back yards, unless neighbors complain to police.

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"This is all new. Some officers are apprehensive about this," Assistant Chief Nick Metz said. "It's our job to make sure they know what they're authorized to do."

Officer Randy Jokela has been reassigned to a different beat.

The final decision on whether the city will dismiss the citations will be made in municipal court Tuesday.

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