With recreational marijuana as the new law of the land, legislators have looked to those who suffered consequences of the old laws. Crafting the blueprints for a section of Proposition 64, the California Senate passed a bill in late August to remove non-violent marijuana convictions and downgrade felonies to misdemeanors.
Should the bill go into effect, more than 218,000 people would be able to get a cleaner criminal record.
What does the bill actually do?
The bill, AB-1793, requires the Department of Justice to go through relevant cases from 1975–2016 where current cannabis laws would affect past sentencing. From these cases, they would determine which convictions can be dismissed, sealed, or downgraded to misdemeanors.
The department can challenge cases based on the person’s eligibility (mainly that they were over 21 and carrying marijuana within the legal limit) or if they are a perceived danger to society.
The bill also mandates that people with eligible convictions are notified by a public defender.
How long will this take?
The Department of Justice would have until July 1, 2019 to identify these cases and an additional year (July 1, 2020) to determine their new classification. Once a sentence has been adjusted or removed, the department will have 30 days to update the criminal database to reflect the change.
If eligible cases from the first deadline aren’t challenged by the 2020 deadline, those cases would be automatically dismissed or reduced to misdemeanors.
To speed up the process, the bill assigns priority to people with relevant convictions and those currently serving a cannabis sentence who petition the courts themselves.
What does this all this mean?
This will help people get greater access to jobs (including in the cannabis industry), reinstate gun rights (a particular plus in rural areas), and most importantly free those currently in prisons or reduce their sentences.
The bill is also major criminal justice reform for people of color, who have been disproportionately affected by drug laws in general.
Hundreds of thousands of people were involved in non-violent marijuana crimes over roughly the past 30 years. For some, likely many, of these people, this bill will erase the only blemish on their criminal records.
This paints a stark reality to the many sides of cannabis. While some consumers can enjoy cannabis to the point where they can plan a summer party around it, or use it to help alleviate joint pain, others have been punished for simply possessing it.
Thanks to that bill, many more will be able to enjoy the benefits of cannabis without having to worry about unnecessary legal repercussions.
