A newly updated analysis by NORML shows that states have expunged and sealed more than 2.3 millions marijuana records since 2018. Courts are increasingly processing relief with the passage of more legalization laws, according to a newly-updated analysis.
According to the estimate of the advocacy group, around half a million additional cannabis cases have been expunged over the last year.
This is largely due to the legislation implemented by states as part of their legalization efforts. According to NORML, California, Illinois, Missouri New Jersey, New York, and Virginia were the states that have been most active in facilitating expungements.
In these states, the courts are required to identify and remove certain marijuana convictions of low level. In other states, such as Arizona or Massachusetts, people must petition the courts individually for relief.
Even though some courts missed deadlines, Missouri purged more than 100,000 cannabis-related cases by 2023.
“Hundreds of thousands Americans carry an unjust burden of a previous conviction for a behavior that is no longer considered a crime by most Americans and a growing numbers of states,” NORML Deputy director Paul Armentano stated. Our sense of justice, and our principles of equity demand that public officials, and the courts, move quickly to correct the past wrongs caused by cannabis prohibition and criminalization.
According to publicly-available data, state courts and local court have taken action in an estimated 2.3M marijuana cases. States that have been most active in providing relief to those with past convictions include CA, IL, MO, NJ, NY, & VA. https://t.co/7280C1TdJj
The report comes after president Joe Biden granted a broad pardon to people who have committed federal marijuana possession crimes and renewed his calls for governors in other states to follow suit.
Pardons are a formal forgiveness of the violation, but do not remove a conviction from the person’s records.
The critics also pointed out that the President’s cannabis pardons did not release anyone from prison, and excluded large groups of people including immigrants and those convicted for selling marijuana.
Most cannabis arrests occur at the state-level, but mass relief is largely dependent on individual legislators and governors. According to a previous NORML study published around a year earlier, governors had granted approximately 100,000 marijuana pardons in the past two years.
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Colorado Gov. Jared Polis, for example has pardoned thousands of cannabis offenses at the state level during his tenure in office as Governor.
In November, Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers (D), a Democrat, has issued another round pardons. This includes dozens of people who have prior marijuana convictions. During his tenure in office, he has granted relief to more than 1,000 people.
Minnesota’s Department of Public Safety posted a status update last week on the state-mandated expungement of thousands of marijuana related criminal records. It said employees were “hard at work” in order to implement the automatic relief required by the legalization legislation signed by the Governor last May.
West Virginia Senate president says marijuana could be legalized to help curb the fentanyl epidemic, “Sooner than Later”
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