With legal marijuana in RI, 'tens of thousands' of past convictions may disappear

As House and Senate committees approved legislation Wednesday to legalize recreational use of marijuana, court officials were preparing to fulfill a challenging requirement if the bill becomes law: the automatic expungement of tens of thousands of past marijuana convictions.

“This is going to be a big lift but we can do it, and we will do it,” said Craig Berke, spokesman for the state court system.

Under the legislation, any prior civil violation, misdemeanor or felony conviction for possession of marijuana that would be decriminalized would be automatically erased from court record systems.

Bigger offenses, however, such as intent to deliver marijuana, or manufacturing, would be ineligible for expungement.

In researching the implications of the bill, the courts took a look at the universe of marijuana violations in their computer systems spanning decades.

More: When will recreational marijuana be legal in RI? We may have an answer

Cases dating back nearly half a century

They found about 27,000 cases eligible for expungement where possession of marijuana was the one and only charge – and “thousands more,” said Berke, where possession was one of multiple charges someone faced.

Some cases date back at least to 1977. Take for example Stephen Marriotte Matthews, now 77.

In 1977, a police department in Providence County arrested and charged him with possession of marijuana, a misdemeanor; distribution of marijuana, a felony; contributing to the delinquency of a child, a misdemeanor; and maintaining a common nuisance, a felony.

There’s still a warrant out for his arrest because he apparently fled Rhode Island. But if he’s ever caught, his marijuana possession charge would no longer be in any computer bank, if the expungement bill becomes law.

Some cases will be easier to expunge than others, said Berke: for example, cases of possession of an ounce or less of the drug.

A decade ago, Rhode Island lawmakers decriminalized those cases, making them civil violations, like a parking ticket. Since then, adjudication of those cases takes place at the Traffic Tribunal, in Cranston. Therefore, those cases are easily identifiable and accessible there, said Berke.

“Where it gets complicated,” he said, is in cases like Matthews', when a marijuana possession charge is part of a criminal case involving other charges.

“Those charges will have to be extracted, and done either by an electronic computer search, or in some cases going through the paper files [by hand] if they were before we converted [to electronic filings] in 2015. It’s going to be a big job.”

If the amount of marijuana in a court file was not stated by arresting officers, then under the legislation, it will be presumed to be under 2 ounces, which would be legal under the new law.

Berke foresaw some “recalculation” of how cases involving multiple charges would be adjudicated.

Courts seek more money to handle administrative cost

Realizing the task at end, court officials, while working with drafters of the legislation, asked for time, as well as money for overtime.

The legislation gives the courts until July 1, 2024, to provide automatic expungement to all who are eligible. It also provides an expedited process for those wishing to have their records expunged earlier.

Berke said the governor has also included in his budget proposal for the next fiscal year $255,000 for overtime for court workers and another $85,000 to hire a contract worker to handle the expungement work.

The money would come out of the “marijuana trust fund,” financed through marijuana sales.

Several advocacy groups lobbied hard for automatic expungement, noting how simple possession charges had for decades hurt members of minority communities disproportionately targeted in the War on Drugs.

“The automatic expungement of criminal records puts this bill at the forefront of nationwide efforts to ensure that cannabis legalization bills right the wrongs of the drug war,” said Miguel Martínez Youngs, organizing director of Reclaim RI.

Rep. Leonela Felix, D-Pawtucket, who took a lead in ensuring that the bill was amended to include automatic expungement, said the magnitude of the cannabis legislation, “specifically the state-initiated expungement piece, is without equal."

“Rhode Island is not only equitably granting conviction relief to many Rhode Islanders, but also rebuilding trust in the justice system with the very communities targeted by the failed War on Drugs policy, primarily people of color,” she said.

On Wednesday afternoon the legislation flew through both the Senate Judiciary Committee and the House Finance Committee.

The bill passed Judiciary on a vote of 9-to-1. Sen. Leo Raptakis, D-Coventry, cast the only “no” vote after raising questions about how drivers impaired from marijuana would be prosecuted.

Unlike with alcohol, there is no reliable test, such as a Breathalyzer, that can offer definitive proof that someone using marijuana is impaired.

The Finance Committee passed the bill 12-2 with Rep. Camille Vella-Wilkinson, D-Warwick, and Rep. Grace Diaz, D-Providence, voting "no."

Both the full Senate and House chambers are scheduled to vote on the bill on May 24.

Email Tom Mooney at: tmooney@providencejournal.com

This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Expungement clause in RI bill may affect thousands of weed convictions