Bipartisan members of Congress have introduced a new pair of bills that would automatically seal criminal records in the case certain federal non-violent marijuana crimes and provide states with assistance to remove records.
Along with bipartisan members, Rep. Laurel Lee and Sen. Lisa Blunt Rochester are leading reforms for the most recent versions of Clean Slate Act.
Blunt Rochester, at a Wednesday press conference, said: “I’ve called this bill my strange bedfellows because, when you see who is here, they are people who know what it feels like to go through the whole process.” The people present are those who have been involved in the fight and advocacy. Democrats, Republicans and Independents. We see it from every part of the nation.”
It’s “about redemption” but it is also about the economy, she said, pointing out the wider impact on the financial side of placing barriers in the way for those with convictions to find employment and rent.
Rand Paul, a Republican senator from Kentucky, will lead the GOP in co-sponsoring the Clean Slate Act.
A version of the Clean Slate Act was advanced by the House Judiciary Committee but not enacted in the end.
This would automatically seal criminal records of certain federal, non-violent marijuana convictions. The law would offer relief to those who were arrested but not convicted of other crimes.
It would create a new procedure for petitioning the courts to seal records of non-violent offences that don’t qualify for automatic sealing. The court could deny their request after two-years if they had not been granted relief.
In addition, district courts will be able to designate a public lawyer to assist those who are “indigent petitioners” in processing their requests to seal records.
Fresh Start Act provides federal funding, while the Fresh Start Act gives states funds to develop their own system of automatic expungement. Although it doesn’t specify what crimes would qualify for relief, an increasing number of states implement automatic expungements of marijuana convictions. They would receive federal funding.
The National Criminal History Improvement Program will not provide grant funds to states who delay the expungement or sealing of records due to outstanding fees and fines.
The Clean Slate Initiative – which championed this legislation and hosted Wednesday’s event – also said that the states will be required to “report on the number of sealed or expunged records, broken down by race, ethnicity, gender, etc.”
Reps. Sydney Kamlager Dove (D – CA) and Lucy McBath(D – GA) were also present at the briefing.
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Advocates are hopeful that more executive clemency will be implemented.
An activist, who was pardoned for marijuana convictions during the first presidential term of Donald Trump, visited the White House in the past week to discuss future options.
Former marijuana offenders who also received Trump’s clemency staged their own event at the White House in early this month. The former prisoners expressed gratitude for Trump’s clemency and asked the administration to help other cannabis criminals still behind bars.
Pennsylvania Governor to Include Marijuana Legalization in Budget but Top Republican Senator is Still Skeptical
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