Photo credit: Getty Images
One of the key talking points of marijuana legalization is the expungement of previous convictions, as it stands to reason that people should not shoulder the burden for past actions that are not illegal anymore. To carry out this process, California-based non-profit organization Code for America is providing technological tools to help the government carry out the pardons.
The reason why expungement is so important is the consequences that a prior conviction can carry. After being convicted for possessing marijuana, one’s ability to find a job or housing plummets, and some government benefits and types of financial aid become unavailable. It can also bar access to naturalization or a visa for immigrants, and it can be grounds for deportation.
“From 2003 to August 2018, more than 45,000 people were deported nationwide for possession of marijuana,” The Associated Press (AP) reports. “An immigrant who acknowledges using marijuana—even if it was in a state where it is legal—can face denial of an application for a visa to visit or a green card to become a legal permanent resident.”
Streamlining a Strenuous Process
Even in states where marijuana was legalized years ago, thousands of people are still burdened by minor cannabis convictions. The files, most of which are years or decades old, have to be retrieved and studied one by one to determine who is eligible for expungement; then, paperwork must be filed, and courts must complete a lengthy process. In cases that require individuals to petition for their case to be revised, it can be a long, confusing and expensive journey requiring attorney and court fees. Even though it is necessary, expunging records requires a massive amount of time and resources.
This is where Code for America steps in. The organization develops technological tools streamlining governmental services, including Clear My Record, which automatically identifies eligible cases, analyzes conviction eligibility and fills out forms to file with the courts without requiring county employees to work on each case individually.
“The current process requires [an] attorney to be involved at the front end; it requires the district attorney to spend time reviewing records; it requires the courts to go and process every record, hold a hearing and create documents,” explains Evonne Silva, senior director of criminal justice for Code for America. “In California, just under Proposition 64, [which legalized adult-use marijuana,] only 3% [of people eligible for relief] had petitioned the courts.”
Los Angeles County District Attorney Jackie Lacey confirmed that 3% figure in a recent press release. Lacey then announced that her county’s partnership with Code for America will lead to the expungement of “nearly 66,000” marijuana convictions—for a total of 85,000 convictions reduced or dismissed within five California counties—by Wednesday, July 1, out of an estimated 200,000 such cases statewide. In Los Angeles County, an estimated 77% of people cleared through this process would be African American or Latino. “With the aid of this technology, a district attorney’s office can dismiss or resentence convictions proactively and automatically. This requires no action on the part of the individual and minimal government staff time and resources,” Lacey says.
Code for America initially only offered an online tool that helped people navigate the justice system, but it required time and effort on individuals’ parts, who had to fill out a form and work with lawyers. In May 2010, the nonprofit launched a pilot program that could work from within the system, thanks to a partnership with San Francisco District Attorney George Gascón, to automate the process. In January 2018, when Gascón announced his office would attempt to identify eligible cases, only 23 people had hired lawyers and successfully petitioned to clear their records; within months of partnership with Code for America, his office had identified more than 9,000 eligible cases dating back to 1975.
Clear My Record is now available at no cost and is an open source to all 58 California counties, and the technology could spread to the rest of the country if its large-scale implementation in California proves successful.
In the Midwest
Closer to home, Illinois has been focusing its recent legalization process toward social justice and mending some of the damage caused by decades of the War on Drugs. On Tuesday, Dec. 31, 2019, just a day before marijuana became fully legal in the state, Illinois’ Democratic Gov. JB Pritzker cleared more than 11,000 marijuana-related convictions in what he called a “first wave” of expungements.
“State officials estimate that 116,000 convictions involving 30 grams or less of marijuana, including for possession of the drug, are eligible for pardons under the new law,” according to the AP. An additional 34,000 cases for possession of more than 30 grams could also be expunged, but they are not eligible for automatic expungement and will require individual petitions. Cook County, where the large majority of these cases occurred, is already partnered with Code for America.
If Wisconsin does legalize adult-use marijuana, the same hurdles will have to be overcome. According to the Wisconsin Department of Justice, nearly 500,000 people have been arrested in our state on marijuana charges in the past four decades, the overwhelming majority of whom were arrested for simple possession. In 2018, out of 19,214 people arrested for marijuana-related offenses, only 1,822 were selling it, while 17,392 just possessed some pot.
Even taking into account that not all arrests turn into convictions, and that some convictions would not be eligible for expungement, we are looking at tens or hundreds of thousands of people who will need their files processed by our state’s justice system. Perhaps by then, Code for America’s technology will be widely available to clear the records of Wisconsinites quickly and efficiently.
