“Sealing these records from public view is a logical and overdue step and will provide Alaskans with greater access to jobs, housing, education, and other economic opportunities.”
Category: Expungement
The bill provides relief for over 175,000 people with low-level marijuana convictions.
Moore’s pardon action automatically forgives every misdemeanor marijuana possession charge the Maryland judiciary can locate in the state’s electronic court records system, along with every misdemeanor paraphernalia charge tied to use or possession of marijuana.
Maine is the 25th state to enact legislation explicitly facilitating the expungement of marijuana-specific convictions.
“Our sense of justice and our principles of fairness demand that public officials and the courts move swiftly to right the past wrongs of cannabis prohibition and criminalization.”
Vice President Harris emphasized that “nobody should have to go to jail” for marijuana use, and lamented that “far too many Americans” have faced serious legal consequences for minor marijuana offenses.
“Hundreds of thousands of Americans unduly carry the burden and stigma of a past conviction for behavior that most Americans, and a growing number of states, no longer consider to be a crime.”
“Tens of thousands of Louisianans carry the burden and stigma of a past conviction for behavior that the majority of state residents no longer believe should be a crime. Our sense of justice and our principles of fairness demand that public officials and the courts move swiftly to right the past wrongs of cannabis prohibition and criminalization.”