Alameda County Expediting Cannabis Conviction Resentencing

Alameda County will dismiss, reduce or seal decades of marijuana-related convictions, District Attorney Nancy O’Malley said Tuesday, clearing thousands of people of activities that California no longer deems crimes.

Barring unusual circumstances or facts, felony cases will be reduced to misdemeanors, and misdemeanors will be dismissed, O’Malley said. The move is in line with new state regulations that allow prior convictions to be redesignated or erased.

O’Malley’s timeline differs slightly from that of San Francisco District Attorney George Gascón, who said last month he would circumvent the petitioning process and automatically expunge or reduce decades of cannabis convictions.

O’Malley said her office will first sign onto petitions of those who come forward after a background review and meeting. She said prosecutors will work with court officials to ultimately expunge all qualifying cases, even if the subjects can’t be reached or don’t file a petition.

From November 2016, when voters legalized recreational use of the drug in California, to December last year, O’Malley said 609 cases were dismissed. She said her office has so far identified 5,900 cases associated with 5,000 individuals that are eligible to be erased.

Source: SF Gate, https://www.sfgate.com/crime/article/Alameda-County-prosecutors-aim-to-dismiss-12627787.php