MRCC

Grow, Gift, Repair

Seattle doing a great job with expungement

Last month, Gov. Charlie Baker signed into law the most expansive criminal justice reform bill in years.

Among its many changes, it reforms the state’s bail system and allows people to request that certain prior offenses that are no longer crimes be expunged from their record, such as convictions for the possession of small amounts of marijuana.

But over in Seattle, their mayor wants to go even further. That city recently filed a motion that would automatically vacate all of the city’s prior convictions for marijuana possession, going back to 1997. If approved, it would impact some 542 people in Seattle, in a state which legalized the recreational use of pot back in 2012.