San Francisco to dismiss all marijuana convictions dating back to 1975 as
California redefines attitude to cannabis
Independent - 1 st February 2018 - By Katie Zezima
District Attorney George Gascon seeks to
address 'failures of the war on drugs' and
'harm done not only to entire nation but
specifically to communities of colour'
District Attorney George Gascon has said that
San Francisco will immediately dismiss all
marijuana misdemeanour convictions dating
to 1975 and will wipe arrest records clean for
anyone who faced such charges.
The city also plans to review all marijuana
felonies recorded during the same time period
and, in appropriate cases, re-sentence them to
misdemeanour offences.
“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
some of the harm that was done not only to
the entire nation but specifically to
communities of colour,” Gascon said at a
news conference Wednesday.
The decision stems from a lesser-known
provision in California law that legalised
recreational marijuana, language that offers a
second chance to people convicted of
marijuana crimes in the state.
The new law allows people with
misdemeanour marijuana records to have
them expunged and those with felony
convictions the opportunity to have them
reduced, pending a review.
But it does not happen automatically:
A person convicted of a marijuana crime must
petition a court to have his or her record
changed. At least 4,500 people have
petitioned to have their convictions changed
since the provision went into effect in
November 2016, upon passage.
But lawyers and others say that the change has
not been well publicised and that the
requirement to petition a court makes it
difficult for low-income state residents to
have their records changed.
That, Gascon and others in San Francisco
said, is part of the reason he is automatically
changing or reviewing convictions.
“There are thousands of cases that are going
to be dismissed at no cost,” said San
Francisco supervisor Malia Cohen.
Gascon estimates that just more than 3,000
misdemeanours will be automatically
dismissed.
Nearly 5,000 felonies will be reviewed and, if
appropriate, re-sentenced to misdemeanours.
Prosecutors can decide not to support a
reduction should the person have a major
felony, such as murder, on their record.
Old convictions will be reclassified under the
law as it reads now.
For example, if someone had been convicted
of possessing an ounce or less of marijuana,
that conviction would be tossed out because
that is now legal under California law.
The Drug Policy Alliance said there have
been 500,000 arrests for marijuana offences in
California in the past 10 years, and it
estimates that up to a million people have
reviewable convictions on their records.