National News
Oregon expunging pot records in light of legalization
October 14, 2015 posted by Steve Brownstein
As of July 1, marijuana has been legal for recreational use in the state of Oregon. As reported by The New York Times Monday, it was not the first to legalize the drug, nor will it likely be the last, but the state is going further than any other to start the process of reversing many of the lingering ills of the War on Drugs.
One such step being taken by Oregon is addressing what to do about people who have criminal records for something that is no longer illegal. In this case, it’s allowing people with low-level felony, misdemeanor, or non-traffic pot violations to use a state law already on the books to wipe their records clean if 10 years or longer has gone by without another conviction. Beginning in 2016, people with more serious felony marijuana violations, like manufacturing, will be able to do the same.
The Times cited the case of Erika Walton, who in her 20s, some 15 years ago, received a citation for possession that has since cost her jobs and kept her from being able to volunteer at her children’s school. She is now able to seal that infraction, and will be able to legally say she has never been convicted of any drug violation.
Part of the reason Walton is able to do this is, in Oregon, the offense she committed was considered lower than a misdemeanor — pot has been decriminalized in the state since 1973. And this year, it passed two pieces of legislation that require courts to consider current laws when considering records-clearing applications and allow “faster records-clearing for people who were under 21 at the time of a past conviction.”
These efforts have not been mirrored in other states like Colorado and Washington, where expungement efforts often prove more difficult, and prosecutors have more say in rejecting applications. But the fact is that it’s ridiculous to hold people accountable for criminal actions when those actions are no longer criminal. As more states legalize marijuana for recreational use — and there will be more — it will be impossible to justify not wiping records clean.
There is still a lot of work to be done to start reversing the damage of the last 40 years: Even in states where marijuana is now legal, white people still benefit more under such policies than black people, who have always felt the brunt of the War on Drugs. But correcting the mistakes of the past that still linger on in the present is a step in the right direction.
