Code for America’s (CfA) Clear My Record project, which to date has helped many counties in California and elsewhere clear eligible cannabis convictions more or less automatically, is now available for all of California.
The nonprofit and nonpartisan national civic tech group has released a new software and implementation blueprint that aims to let district attorneys across the state dismiss or reduce scores of cannabis convictions. This may have a widespread impact for the nation’s most populous state, with the California Department of Justice estimating as many as 220,000 convictions potentially eligible for relief in the wake of the legalization of recreational marijuana.
Releasing the software and step-by-step guide builds upon CfA’s five-county pilot program within the state, within which the automatic record clearance project led to 75,000 cannabis convictions being dismissed or reduced.
CfA bills this project as more efficient and cost-effective alternative to manual means of record clearance, which often involves petitioning and attorneys. Yolo County, near Sacramento, is the first in the state to take advantage of the new information that has been made available, which the group is calling the Clear My Record Application and Implementation Blueprint.
There is a July 2020 deadline in the state for all counties to review and act upon all eligible cannabis convictions.
