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Bill aims to clean slate for marijuana dismissals
01.22.07|Commonwealth Times

Persons involved in dismissed possession-of-marijuana charges may have the option to petition for expungement, a new bill proposes. If passed, the bill would let offenders petition for their records to be deleted from the archives of their local police departments. The petitions would have to be filed at least 10 years after the charges' dismissals.

Sen. Louise Lucas, D-Portsmouth, proposed the bill.

"A lot of times, these charges stand in the way of people being hired," Lucas said. "Anyone who has had an offense should have the opportunity to advance."

If the offense was dismissed by the court, offenders can file a petition setting forth relevant evidence of rehabilitation and requesting the removal of charges from police and court records.

"The things you do when you are young will sometimes hang over your head for 10 or 15 years, making it sometimes impossible to get a job. It shouldn't keep anyone from being able to compete in the job market. We all make mistakes." -Sen. Louise Lucas, D-Portsmouth
Information concerning the incident would be removed from public record.

However, the bill states that if a person receives a second offense, the Department of Criminal Justice Services would refer to a private record of the original charge. The records would only be available to law enforcement personnel, not potential employers.

"The things you do when you are young will sometimes hang over your head for 10 or 15 years, making it sometimes impossible to get a job," Lucas said. "It shouldn't keep anyone from being able to compete in the job market. We all make mistakes."

Lucas said the bill eliminates the barrier between job seekers and employment.

"If you are fully rehabilitated and can prove it, you deserve a change to start over," Lucas said.

 

Buzzby

Big deal. Most states allow you to apply to have your record expunged as soon as you finish your probation.

I did that in Ohio and they still turned down my application for a concealed-carry license based on a 34-year-old marijuana possession conviction. It's great that prospective employers no longer have access to your record but it seems ridiculous that you can get a CCL three years after a conviction for a violent misdemeanor but any drug conviction disqualifies you for life.

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