Tag: Ohio State

Marijuana legalization and record clearing in 2022

CCRC is pleased to announce a new report on recent cannabis-specific record sealing and expungement reforms in the past 18 months. The report, extending CCRC’s fruitful collaboration with the Drug Enforcement and Policy Center at The Ohio State University, is available here.  An accompanying infographic (reproduced at the end of this postr) summarizes the report’s findings, and includes a color-coded US map showing which states have enacted cannabis-specific record-clearing provisions.  To supplement the map, the report includes an appendix classifying and describing marijuana-specific record clearing statutes in all 50 states, based on CCRC’s 50-state comparison chart on “Marijuana Legalization, Decriminalization, Expungement and Clemency.”  To put our new report in context, CCRC and DEPC reported 18 months ago on an “unprecedented period for policymaking at the intersection of marijuana legalization and criminal record reform in the first months of 2021,” with four states (New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, and Virginia) legalizing marijuana possession and at the same time providing criminal record relief for past convictions along with a variety of social equity provisions.  Our report shows this trend continuing into 2022. Since our 2021 report, four additional states (Connecticut, Maryland, Missouri, and Rhode Island) have adopted similar record-clearing provisions in connection with adult-use cannabis legalization, authorizing sealing and expungement provisions that in most cases extend well beyond convictions for legalized conduct. All four states made at least some relief automatic, removing the burden of a criminal record from many individuals while raising the bar on standards for marijuana record relief nationwide. Like the four states discussed in our earlier report, these four also address racial disparities in marijuana criminalization by directing tax revenue and business opportunities for legal marijuana to individuals and communities disproportionately affected by criminal law enforcement. During this same timeframe, three additional states (California, Colorado, and Massachusetts) enhanced their existing marijuana-specific record sealing statutes. The report summarizes the cannabis-specific record clearing provisions enacted since publication of our earlier report in the spring of 2021 in California, Colorado, Connecticut, Maryland, Massachusetts, Missouri and Rhode Island. Missouri’s record-clearing provisions, adopted through a ballot initiative and effective immediately, are particularly impressive: individuals currently incarcerated for possession of up to three pounds of marijuana may petition for release and expungement (with certain offenses excepted), most individuals currently under supervision are automatically released from their sentence and their record expunged, and individuals convicted of all marijuana-related misdemeanors and most felonies have their records automatically expunged upon completion of sentence. See Section III(C) of the Missouri profile from the Restoration of Rights Project for additional information about this extraordinary ballot initiative. As in the 2021 report, we include laws authorizing marijuana-specific automatic record clearing provisions that are not scheduled to be implemented until some future date, with an appropriate notation. We focus exclusively on authorities that specifically expunge or seal marijuana convictions, and do not take into consideration more general record clearing laws that may also apply to marijuana convictions (frequently more broadly).  Additional information about state record relief laws, including those that apply specifically to marijuana records, can be found in the state profiles in the Restoration of Rights Project. In addition to the 50-state overview of marijuana-specific record clearing provisions, the appendix also includes a summary of the marijuana-specific pardon initiatives undertaken by several states in recent years. Read the report Explore the infographic (click to enlarge)                   Read more

Ohio governor establishes expedited pardon process

On December 3, Governor Mike DeWine announced an initiative that promises to revive the pardon power in Ohio and bring much-needed relief from collateral consequences to many hundreds of deserving individuals convicted over the years in that state.  The Expedited Pardon Project, a collaboration between the Governor’s Office and the Drug Enforcement Policy Center at Ohio State University and the Reentry Clinic at The University of Akron School of Law, aspires to expedite the process by which people apply for a pardon under Ohio’s laws by enlisting law students to assist in preparing pardon applications.  Once petitions are filed, the formal pardon process prescribed by statute will be collapsed into a period of months, with final action by the governor in less than a year. This initiative could elevate Ohio into the small group of states that have productive and regular pardon programs, including states like Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia and South Carolina, where duly constituted pardon boards (some entirely independent of the governor) preside over programs that issue hundreds of pardons every year, granting relief to a high percentage of individuals that apply.  Another handful of states, including Arkansas, Nebraska, and Nevada, have somewhat smaller pardon programs but still issue between 50 and 100 grants each year.  With this expedited initiative, Ohio could quickly join their ranks, supplementing the state’s limited judicial sealing and certificate laws in furthering the goals of restoration and reintegration.  It could also make the Ohio pardon process one of the most efficient in the nation. As explained on the Project’s website, the Ohio Department of Corrections will conduct background investigations of applications referred by the Project, and the Parole Board will then hold a hearing for each applicant, during which victims, judges and prosecutors involved with his or her case can offer their thoughts. The Parole Board will then vote the same day about whether to recommend clemency to the governor.  See Jeremy Pelzer, Gov. Mike DeWine creates streamlined pardon process to help Ohio offenders, Cleveland.com, Dec. 3, 2019, https://www.cleveland.com/open/2019/12/gov-mike-dewine-creates-streamlined-pardon-process-to-help-ohio-ex-offenders.html.  The expedited process is expected to require only six months from filing the application to a decision by the governor. Standards for consideration of pardon applications are set forth in a document posted on the Project website, and are described as “minimum requirements” that all applicants must meet.  By the standards of most state pardon programs, and those applied to presidential pardons, these standards are quite rigorous.  To begin with, the eligibility waiting period is on the long side (ten conviction-free years following completion of sentence, compared to the five years following prison release for a presidential pardon), applicants must have a “compelling need” for a pardon and a record of community service, and they must have paid all court debt including restitution.  Some offenses make a person ineligible for expedited consideration, including domestic violence and certain violent or sexual offenses. While the Ohio Supreme Court held in 2015 that Ohio pardons provide “only forgiveness, not forgetfulness,” the governor indicated that he may seek legislation to seal or expunge the record of a pardoned case. We hope to publish more about this promising new program in the months ahead.  At this point, we would suggest that consideration be given at an early date to relaxing and/or clarifying some of what seem unduly strict eligibility requirements, notably the lengthy eligibility waiting period and the requirement that all court debt be paid before a pardon applicant will be accepted into the program.  These requirements, along with the requirement of community service, may lead to an applicant pool of people who have already successfully reintegrated into the community, making pardon more of a reward for rehabilitation than an aid to it.  Indeed, those responsible for administering the program may find that there is a certain tension between some of these requirements and a “compelling need” for pardon.  In any case, a desire for forgiveness and to “put the past behind” has historically been sufficient reason for a presidential pardon, and we hope it will be sufficient for this program as well.  We also hope that waivers may be granted not just from the requirement that court debt be paid, but also from the categorical offense ineligibility, particularly when many years have done by since the conviction occurred.   Read more

Marijuana decriminalization drives expungement reform

The national trend toward expanding opportunities for restoration of rights after conviction has continued to accelerate throughout 2018.  By our count, so far this year alone 31 states have broadened existing second chance laws or enacted entirely new ones, enhancing the prospects for successful reentry and reintegration for many thousands of Americans.  On November 6, Florida could take the most politically momentous step of the year if its voters approve a ballot initiative amending the state constitution to re-enfranchise more than a million and a half individuals who are now permanently barred from voting because of a past felony conviction.  We expect to publish a full report on these 2018 reforms, similar to the report we published last winter on 2017 laws, by the end of the year.  Expect it to feature the broad occupational licensing reforms enacted in more than a dozen states since last spring. Another important series of second chance reforms this year has accompanied marijuana decriminalization.  These reforms are documented and analyzed by Professor Douglas Berman in an important new paper titled “Leveraging Marijuana Reform to Enhance Expungement Practices.”  Published in a symposium issue of the Federal Sentencing Reporter devoted to various aspects of collateral consequences and criminal records management, Professor Berman’s paper showcases issues that will becomes increasingly important as the War on Drugs winds down.  Professor Berman is the executive director of Ohio State University’s Drug Enforcement and Policy Center, whose official launch is November 2.  We expect that the Center under his management will give restoration of rights an important place on its policy agenda. The abstract of Professor Berman’s article follows:  Leveraging Marijuana Reform to Enhance Expungement Practices States reforming marijuana laws should be particularly concerned with remedying the past inequities and burdens of mass criminalization.  State marijuana reforms should not only offer robust retroactive ameliorative relief opportunities for prior marijuana offenses, but also dedicate resources generated by marijuana reform to create and fund new institutions to assess and serve the needs of a broad array of offenders looking to remedy the collateral consequences of prior involvement in the criminal justice system.  So far, California stands out among reform states for coupling repeal of marijuana prohibition with robust efforts to enable and ensure the erasure of past marijuana convictions.  In addition to encouraging marijuana reform states to follow California’s lead in enacting broad ameliorative legislation, this essay urges policy makers and reform advocates to see the value of linking and leveraging the commitments and spirit of modern marijuana reform and expungement movements. Part II begins with a brief review of the history of marijuana prohibition giving particular attention to social and racial dynamics integral to prohibition, its enforcement and now its reform.   Part III turns to recent reform activities focused on mitigating the punitive collateral consequences of a criminal conviction with a focus on the (mostly limited) efforts of marijuana reform states to foster the erasure of marijuana convictions.  Part IV sketches a novel proposal for connecting modern marijuana reform and expungement movements.  This part suggest a new criminal justice institution, a Commission on Justice Restoration, to be funded by the taxes, fees and other revenues generated by marijuana reforms and to be tasked with proactively working on policies and practices designed to minimize and ameliorate undue collateral consequences for people with criminal convictions.      Read more