{"id":51797,"date":"2021-12-16T05:25:11","date_gmt":"2021-12-16T13:25:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/2021\/12\/16\/california-ag-pushes-county-prosecutors-to-stop-delaying-relief-for-past-cannabis-convictions\/"},"modified":"2021-12-16T13:46:27","modified_gmt":"2021-12-16T21:46:27","slug":"california-ag-pushes-county-prosecutors-to-stop-delaying-relief-for-past-cannabis-convictions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/2021\/12\/16\/california-ag-pushes-county-prosecutors-to-stop-delaying-relief-for-past-cannabis-convictions\/","title":{"rendered":"California AG Pushes County Prosecutors To Stop Delaying Relief For Past Cannabis Convictions"},"content":{"rendered":"<\/p>\n

California Attorney General Rob Bonta (D) is urging the prosecuting attorneys throughout the state to expedite their overdue processing of past marijuana convictions<\/a> in order to allow eligible individuals to have their sentences reduced or removed and past records sealed from public view.<\/p>\n

Proposition 64, which California voters passed in 2016 to legalize cannabis for adults, allowed people with certain prior convictions to petition to the courts for relief, an effort to undo criminal consequences of conduct that is no longer illegal. The plan rolled out inconsistently across the state and into repeated delays, so in 2018 lawmakers passed separate legislation to streamline the process.<\/p>\n

Bonta, a state assemblymember at the time, was that bill\u2019s lead sponsor.<\/p>\n

\u201cSince this law went into effect,\u201d he said in a statement<\/a> Wednesday, \u201ctens of thousands of Californians have been able to turn the page and make a fresh start\u2014but unfortunately there are still some who are waiting for relief. I urge counties to prioritize processing their records so that these Californians can finally get the relief they deserve.\u201d<\/p>\n

Prosecutors had until July of last year to review eligible cases and decide whether to challenge them, but some have still not forwarded necessary information to courts, the attorney general\u2019s office said.<\/p>\n

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Since AB1793 went into effect, many in CA have been able to make a fresh start, but there are still some waiting for relief.<\/p>\n

I urge counties to prioritize updating outdated cannabis convictions. DOJ is here to help & we’re committed to seeing this through.https:\/\/t.co\/kMrMl3AFVZ<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Rob Bonta (@AGRobBonta) December 15, 2021<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

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A bulletin issued by the California Department of Justice (DOJ) on Bonta\u2019s behalf says that as of December 1, the department was \u201caware that there are some prosecuting agencies that have not provided a complete listing of cases to the court for processing.\u201d That could prevent eligible defendants from seeing relief.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn this event, the court may not have been able to \u2018reduce or dismiss the conviction\u2019 or subsequently \u2018notify the department of the recall or dismissal of sentence, dismissing and sealing, or redesignation,\u2019\u201d as mandated by the Bonta-sponsored legislation, AB 1793, the DOJ bulletin says.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf there is no challenge by the prosecution,\u201d it says, \u201cthe law requires courts to automatically reduce or dismiss the conviction, and notify DOJ to modify the state summary criminal history information database.\u201d<\/p>\n

AB 1793<\/a> dictated that DOJ review cases going back more than four decades and identify instances where charges might not apply following legalization. Local prosecutors then had the chance to evaluate and potentially challenge the identified cases. If they chose not to, the records would be updated to remove the convictions, update sentences accordingly and seal the court records.<\/p>\n

While sealing the records doesn\u2019t erase them completely, it shields them from public view. Having a criminal record creates the potential for discrimination in housing, employment, education, financial services and other vital everyday needs.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo many people don\u2019t know that they\u2019re eligible\u201d for relief under the relatively new law, Felicia Carbajal, programming director for New Expungement Works told Filter<\/a>\u00a0earlier this year. \u201cI imagine a lot of the folks who have those convictions aren\u2019t running to their local agencies to get this taken care of, nor are they taking it upon themselves to do it because it is arduous. It\u2019s not an easy process if you\u2019ve never filled out forms or if you\u2019re operating from a space of trauma. Many times people from historically-underserved communities get so underwhelmed when they\u2019re put in these situations.\u201d<\/p>\n

The effort to clear past records automatically gained momentum in January 2018, before Bonta\u2019s bill became law, when then-San Francisco District Attorney George Gasc\u00f3n announced his office would identify and reclassify records going back to 1975. Other California counties, and some other states, would eventually follow suit.<\/p>\n

Though the process is now supposed to be automatic, it\u2019s been slowed by recordkeeping differences across the state, court delays and\u2014as Bonta\u2019s DOJ bulletin suggests\u2014possible foot-dragging by district attorneys.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy team is available as a resource,\u201d the attorney general said in Wednesday\u2019s statement, \u201cand we won\u2019t stop working until every Californian eligible for relief under AB 1793 is experiencing the law\u2019s intended benefits.\u201d<\/p>\n

At a conference hosted by California NORML last month celebrating 25 years since voters passed Proposition 215, which made the state the fir tin the country to legalize medical marijuana, Bonta touted the state\u2019s cannabis market as \u201cnumber one in the world\u201d<\/a> but said there\u2019s still work to be done. He pointed specifically to the need to combat unlicensed operations that undermine regulated businesses and to stop illegal grow operations that damage the environment.<\/p>\n

Bonta also spoke about the long road to legalization amid a nationwide drug war.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople of color were left bruised and beaten, thrown behind bars and torn away from their families and support network all for cannabis,\u201d he said. \u201cEnough people have been arrested in our neighborhoods for cannabis. It\u2019s time we bring more investment into our neighborhoods.\u201d<\/p>\n

Meanwhile in California, officials recently\u00a0started accepting concept proposals\u00a0for a program aimed at helping small marijuana cultivators with environmental clean-up<\/a> and restoration efforts. And Gov. Gavin Newsom (D)\u00a0vetoed a bill\u00a0that would have allowed cannabis businesses to advertise on billboards<\/a> along state highways.<\/p>\n

The governor also recently approved legislation to boost the state\u2019s hemp industry by legalizing retail sales of a wide range of consumable products derived from the plant\u2014including CBD-infused foods, beverages, cosmetics and dietary supplements<\/a>. It will eventually allow the sales of smokable hemp products in the state.<\/p>\n

In September, Newsom signed separate legislation to\u00a0require hospitals to permit medical marijuana use<\/a>\u00a0by certain patients in their facilities.<\/p>\n

California officials are also making millions of dollars available for\u00a0grants programs to support marijuana social equity initiatives<\/a>\u00a0and assist localities in processing pending cannabis business license applications.\u00a0Next year\u2019s California State Fair will even host a first-of-its-kind,\u00a0state-sanctioned cannabis competition<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\n

Ohio Senate Approves Bill To Allow Medical Marijuana For Any Patient Who Can \u2018Reasonably Be Expected\u2019 To Benefit<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

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The post California AG Pushes County Prosecutors To Stop Delaying Relief For Past Cannabis Convictions<\/a> appeared first on Marijuana Moment<\/a>.<\/p>\n


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\nRead More: California AG Pushes County Prosecutors To Stop Delaying Relief For Past Cannabis Convictions<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

California Attorney General Rob Bonta (D) is urging the prosecuting attorneys throughout the state to expedite their overdue processing of past marijuana convictions in order to allow eligible individuals to have their sentences reduced or removed and past records sealed from public view. Proposition 64, which California voters passed inContinue Reading<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"false","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[18,81],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51797"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=51797"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51797\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":51798,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51797\/revisions\/51798"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=51797"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=51797"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=51797"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}