State authorities officers have offered almost 2 million pardons and expungements to individuals with low-level marijuana convictions over current years, in line with a brand new evaluation from NORML.
There’s been renewed nationwide curiosity in hashish clemency since President Joe Biden issued a mass marijuana pardon in October, forgiving a number of hundreds People who’ve dedicated federal possession offenses and inspiring governors to observe the administration’s lead.
However whereas the presidential motion has been seen by advocates as a welcome step in the proper path, it’s severely restricted in scope, due largely to the truth that overwhelming majority of marijuana instances happen on the state degree, falling outdoors of the president’s jurisdiction.
Some governors have taken clemency motion within the weeks since Biden’s mass pardon, however many different state and native officers had moved to supply comparable aid even earlier than the president stepped up.
A brand new report revealed by NORML on Wednesday examines publicly obtainable information from throughout the nation, displaying how officers have offered about 100,000 pardons and 1.7 million expungements since 2018.
“A whole bunch of hundreds of People unduly carry the burden and stigma of a previous conviction for conduct that almost all People, and a rising variety of states, not think about to be a criminal offense,” NORML Deputy Director Paul Armentano said in a press launch. “Our sense of justice and our rules of equity demand that public officers and the courts transfer swiftly to proper the previous wrongs of hashish prohibition and criminalization.”
Right here’s are key examples of hashish clemency that state and native officers have facilitated over the previous 4 years:
Pardons
Nevada Gov. Steve Sisolak (D) has made a constant effort to proper the wrongs of criminalization. In 2020, for instance, he pardoned greater than 15,000 individuals who had been convicted for low-level hashish possession. That motion was made attainable beneath a decision the governor launched that was unanimously accredited by the state’s Board of Pardons Commissioners.
In 2019, Washington State Gov. Jay Inslee (D) introduced that individuals with misdemeanor marijuana possession convictions on their data had been eligible to obtain an expedited pardon. He estimated that 3,500 Washington residents would qualify for the aid.
In the future earlier than authorized leisure marijuana gross sales launched in Illinois in 2019, Gov. J.B. Pritzker (D) introduced that his workplace was pardoning greater than 11,000 individuals who had beforehand been convicted of easy hashish possession.
Kansas Metropolis Mayor Quinton Lucas (D) facilitated pardons for 8,000 residents with marijuana data in 2020, and he adopted up later that 12 months by introducing an ordinance to finish all penalties for marijuana possession beneath the municipality’s native legal guidelines.
Colorado Gov. Jared Polis (D) introduced final 12 months that he granted 1,351 pardons for convictions of possession of two ounces or much less of marijuana. Beforehand, he signed an government order granting almost 3,000 pardons for individuals convicted of possession one ounce of much less of hashish.
Birmingham, Alabama Mayor Randall Woodfin (D) mentioned at a congressional listening to final month that he’s processed about 23,000 pardons for residents with hashish data.
Gov. Tom Wolf (D) launched the statewide pardon initiative in October, touting it as a chance to let residents have minor hashish possession convictions cleared from their data. And whereas officers touted the truth that it obtained about 3,500 clemency functions, it was not too long ago reported that solely a pair hundred have been conditionally accredited.
The governor of Oregon not too long ago granted a mass pardon for state-level marijuana possession offenses that may present aid to an estimated 45,000 individuals—a transfer that she described as “actually an act of mercy” and that obtained reward from Biden.
Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers (D) has granted lots of of pardons throughout his tenure, primarily for individuals convicted of non-violent marijuana or different drug offenses.
“Whereas pardons present a degree of forgiveness for previous crimes, these aren’t the identical as expungements—which seal previous convictions from public view,” the NORML report says. “To facilitate the latter, lawmakers in lots of states in recent times have enacted legal guidelines offering specific pathways to expunge the data of these with low-level marijuana convictions.”
“In some instances, these eligible for expungement aid aren’t required to take any motion,” it continued. “As an alternative, state officers robotically overview previous data and notify those that meet the state’s standards for expungement. In different instances, state legislation requires these in search of to have their data expunged to petition the courts in an effort to have their data reviewed and vacated.”
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Expungements and Document Sealing
Beneath California’s legalization legislation, greater than 200,000 marijuana-related convictions have been expunged. And laws Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) signed in September to construct upon the aid provisions of the hashish legislation is count on to facilitate about 34,000 extra expungements.
The governor of Illinois has touted that greater than 500,000 expungements and pardons had been processed for individuals with low-level marijuana offenses on their data in late 2020. He additionally signed a invoice in June to make it so courts can not deny petitions to expunge or seal data primarily based on a constructive drug check for marijuana.
The New Jersey Judiciary introduced final 12 months that the state had expunged greater than 362,000 marijuana instances, when a decriminalization legislation took impact that mandated the aid for individuals who have been caught up in prohibition enforcement.
Greater than 150,000 marijuana possession convictions in New York had been robotically expunged in 2019, and that quantity has grown to 200,000 as of 2021, NORML mentioned. Officers proceed to course of aid because the state prepares to launch its adult-use hashish program.
Virginia has sealed greater than 64,000 hashish data because the state moved to legalize marijuana, the state introduced in 2021.
The Arizona Supreme Court docket introduced final 12 months that it had launched an internet site to assist individuals expunge their previous marijuana conviction data, pursuant to the legalization initiative that voters accredited.
“In complete, two dozen states—together with most not too long ago, Maryland and Missouri—have enacted laws expediting and facilitating the expungement of marijuana-related prison convictions,” NORML mentioned.
This hashish clemency report is being launched days after NORML launched a legislative evaluation detailing marijuana reform victories in state legislatures and on the poll in 2022.
Photograph courtesy of Mike Latimer.