Wiping dope records could help minorities
UNITED STATES: With cannabis now legal in California, prosecutors in San Francisco and San Diego are moving to erase thousands of marijuana convictions en masse, a step that could prove life-changing for some and could especially help minorities, who were more likely than whites to be arrested for such crimes.
‘‘We want to address the wrongs that were caused by the failures of the war on drugs for many years in this country and begin to fix the harm that was done not only to the entire nation but specifically to communities of colour,’’ said San Francisco District Attorney George Gascon.
Advocates are calling on more California counties to do the same.
‘‘That’s awesome. It’s wonderful and appropriate,’’ said Josh Freeman, a marijuana farmer who recently had his felony conviction for selling small bags of weed at a reggae concert reduced to a misdemeanour.
Freeman can now obtain permits to grow marijuana legally, something he couldn’t do with a felony record. He could also legally buy a gun and take up hunting again, he said.
In addition to being barred from owning guns, convicted felons cannot vote and are disqualified from holding many professional licences. Also, people with felony convictions often have difficulty finding work and housing.
Californians voted in November 2016 to legalise recreational marijuana and abolish a host of cannabis-related crimes. California is among eight states that allow adults to use the drug recreationally. The federal government still illegal.
California’s considers marijuana measure applies retroactively to hundreds of thousands of cases, but people who want to get their convictions erased or reduced have to petition the courts themselves. Fewer than 5000 have gone through the time and expense involved.
Freeman, for example, hired a lawyer to get his Monterey County conviction reduced, and it took several months and repeated visits to the court.
As a result, Gascon announced this week that his office will review nearly 8000 cases dating back to 1975, and that prosecutors will seek mass dismissals and reductions.
Gascon said just 23 people filed petitions in San Francisco last year.
The National Conference of State Legislatures says nine US states have marijuana laws that let people clear or modify their records.
African-Americans and other minorities have been arrested for marijuana crimes at far higher rates than whites, and as legalisation spreads, states and cities are trying to redress that inequity.
Across the San Francisco Bay, for instance, Oakland has set aside a number of marijuana sales permits for minorities convicted of specific cannabis-related crimes, and requires some stores to be opened in low-income neighbourhoods hard hit by drug arrests.
‘‘It was a huge relief,’’ said Ingrid Archie, a 37-year-old black woman who may have been the first person in the state to petition a court to reduce a felony marijuana conviction.
Archie was sentenced to three years in prison after police seized 450 grams of marijuana from her home. Four hours after the polls closed on election night in 2016, she emailed her petition to a judge. Three months later, her conviction was turned into a misdemeanour.
Archie now works for the Los Angeles non-profit group A New Way Of Life, which campaigned for legalisation and helps those released from prison resettle in the community.
She said more counties should follow San Francisco’s and San Diego’s lead and take it upon themselves to throw out or reduce convictions.
San Diego District Attorney Summer Stephan said prosecutors in her office immediately reviewed all pending marijuana-related cases after the ballot measure passed. Soon, 55 people were released from jail and hundreds more removed from probation. So far, 680 cases have been dismissed or reduced in San Diego.
Groups like the Drug Policy Alliance, which advocates broad marijuana legalisation, and county public defenders have organised legal clinics throughout the state to encourage people found guilty of cannabis offences to petition the courts. They have had limited success, however.
The Hood Incubator, an Oakland non-profit aimed at boosting minority participating in the marijuana industry, has hosted several clinics. Co-founder Lanese Martin said about two dozen people attended, but none came back for the portion on clearing their criminal records.
‘‘It’s huge that San Francisco is doing it automatically,’’ Martin said. ‘‘It removes huge barriers for folks trying to navigate the process of getting their life back from the bureaucracy.’’ –AP