AZ: Appeals court says some marijuana sales convictions can be expunged
Some convictions for marijuana sales are eligible for expungement under Proposition 207, which legalized the drug for adult use, the Arizona Court of Appeals ruled Tuesday.
“This will allow (people who have been convicted) to mitigate the generational impact of their involvement with the criminal legal system, which affects Black and Brown people and people of lower socioeconomic status at disproportionate rates,” Martin Hutchins, lead attorney and program manager for the Reclaim Your Future campaign, said in a statement.
In his opinion for the unanimous three-judge panel, Judge Brian Furuya reversed a previous ruling from a Maricopa County Superior Court judge that denied expungement of a man’s 2014 marijuana sales conviction. The appellate court ordered the trial court to grant his expungement petition.
When Arizonans in November 2020 approved Prop. 207, legalizing adult use of marijuana, they also voted to authorize expungement for adults who were previously convicted of using or possessing amounts of the drug that are now legal.
https://www.azmirror.com/blog/appeals-court-says-some-marijuana-sales-convictions-can-be-expunged/