Since the city reinstated an old law allowing judges to banish people from certain areas if they’re accused of violating Seattle’s drug laws, two people have been arrested and jailed for violating Stay Out of Drug Area orders. The first case involved a woman who was originally arrested in Westlake Park in downtown Seattle after police looked into her open bag and saw a container with white powder inside; after spending almost two weeks in jail, she was banned from the central business district. Six weeks later, she was arrested again when police saw her in the area.
The second person accused of violating their SODA order was a man who was arrested twice within four days, both last month, for smoking crack in Belltown. He was banished from the Belltown SODA area but didn’t leave; instead, he was arrested again two days later when police saw him in the same area.
Both were referred into a “drug prosecution alternative” proposed by City Attorney Ann Davison to replace Community Court—an alternative to prosecution that Davison unilaterally ended. in 2023. (Public drug use and simple possession weren’t misdemeanors in Seattle until the city passed a law in 2023 enabling Davison to prosecute these cases.) At the time, Davison argued that community court was a failure, in part, because many people didn’t show up for their first court appearances…