LAKE COUNTY, Calif. — California Attorney General Rob Bonta is urging county prosecutors to work with superior courts to prioritize the updating of cannabis convictions, an action Lake County District Attorney Susan Krones said she has completed.
Bonta said the work will help Californians who have such convictions to promptly obtain the relief they are entitled to under the law, namely, AB 1793, of which he was lead author.
Before July 2019, the California Department of Justice identified and provided county prosecuting agencies with a list of Californians that might have convictions eligible to be reduced or removed under AB 1793, Bonta’s office reported.
However, to date, Bonta’s office said there are still past convictions in the state's database that are potentially eligible for resentencing.
“Since this law went into effect, tens of thousands of Californians have been able to turn the page and make a fresh start — but unfortunately there are still some who are waiting for relief. I urge counties to prioritize processing their records so that these Californians can finally get the relief they deserve. My team is available as a resource, and we won't stop working until every Californian eligible for relief under AB 1793 is experiencing the law’s intended benefits,” Bonta said.
In 2016, California voters passed Proposition 64, legalizing the possession, cultivation and sale of cannabis by adults 21 years and older.
At the same time, Proposition 64 allowed individuals convicted of the possession, cultivation or sale of cannabis to petition, as appropriate, for resentencing.
Bonta, then a member of the Assembly, wrote AB 1793 to streamline the process, requiring the Department of Justice to review records in the state summary criminal history information database and to identify past convictions potentially eligible for recall or dismissal of sentence, dismissal and sealing, or re-designation.
If there is no challenge to the resentencing, Bonta’s office said courts are required to automatically reduce or dismiss the conviction and to notify the Department of Justice to update the state summary criminal history information database to reflect the resentencing.
Krones told Lake County News that the law required the Department of Justice to compile a list of marijuana convictions for each county.
She had until July 1, 2020, to review them all and decide if she was going to challenge the reduction or dismissal of any of the convictions.
“I did not oppose any of the cases to be reduced or dismissed,” she said.
Krones received assistance in organizing the information about the cases from Code for America, whose projects include criminal record clearance and expungement.
The nonprofit helps write computer programs to assist in analyzing data in a format that can be easier to understand. Krones said they used the information provided by the Department of Justice.
She sent 550 cases to the courts to be reduced or resentenced by the July 2020 deadline.
“The courts now have the list of cases that should be reduced or dismissed and will need to do the next steps to take action on them,” Krones said.
Bonta’s bulletin to county agencies can be read here.
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