After Times investigation, law passed to force California to clear pot convictions faster
LA TimesAssemblymember Mia Bonta, middle, walks to a podium to speak between Gov. “It is unimaginable and unacceptable that years after we legalized cannabis, Californians are still waiting to get their records cleared,” the bill’s author, Assemblymember Mia Bonta, said in a statement. “We have a moral obligation to get this right.” The new law gives the courts a deadline of March 1 to update case records and transmit them to the state Department of Justice, which maintains California’s criminal history database and responds to background checks. In a statement, the group’s state policy director, Gracie Burger, said the law represents “accountability for the racist origins of cannabis prohibition.” “Californians who would not be guilty of any crime today still suffer the weight of old marijuana convictions,” Los Angeles County Deputy Public Defender Nick Stewart-Oaten said in a statement. Under the new law, the state DOJ and the Judicial Council, which oversees the superior courts, will be tasked with collecting data on cannabis record clearance statewide and issuing regular public reports.
History of this topic
With pardons in Maryland, 2.5 million Americans will have marijuana convictions cleared or forgiven
Associated Press
New bill takes aim at California’s slow progress clearing pot convictions
LA Times
California was supposed to clear cannabis convictions. Tens of thousands are still languishing
LA Times
L.A. County D.A. to dismiss 60,000 past marijuana convictions
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