Pritzker: Almost 500K cannabis arrest records expunged
by Andrew Davis, Windy City Times 2021-01-01
This article shared 250 times since Friday
On Dec. 31, 2020, Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker announced 492,129 non-felony cannabis-related arrest records have been expunged at the state level by the Illinois State Police.
The announcement happened four years in advance of the deadline set in the Cannabis Regulation and Tax Act (CRTA), which Pritzker signed into law in 2019. Additionally, the governor issued pardons for 9,219 low-level cannabis conviction records, for a total of more than 20,000 cannabis convictions now pardoned since the signing of the legislation.
“Statewide, Illinoisans hold hundreds of thousands low-level cannabis-related records, a burden disproportionately shouldered by communities of color,” said Pritzker. “We will never be able to fully remedy the depth of that damage. But we can govern with the courage to admit the mistakes of our pastand the decency to set a better path forward. I applaud the Prisoner Review Board, the Illinois State Police, and our partners across the state for their extraordinary efforts that allowed these pardons and expungements to become a reality.”
Pritzker: Almost 500K cannabis arrest records expunged
by Andrew Davis, Windy City Times 2021-01-01
This article shared 250 times since Friday
On Dec. 31, 2020, Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker announced 492,129 non-felony cannabis-related arrest records have been expunged at the state level by the Illinois State Police.
The announcement happened four years in advance of the deadline set in the Cannabis Regulation and Tax Act (CRTA), which Pritzker signed into law in 2019. Additionally, the governor issued pardons for 9,219 low-level cannabis conviction records, for a total of more than 20,000 cannabis convictions now pardoned since the signing of the legislation.
“Statewide, Illinoisans hold hundreds of thousands low-level cannabis-related records, a burden disproportionately shouldered by communities of color,” said Pritzker. “We will never be able to fully remedy the depth of that damage. But we can govern with the courage to admit the mistakes of our pastand the decency to set a better path forward. I applaud the Prisoner Review Board, the Illinois State Police, and our partners across the state for their extraordinary efforts that allowed these pardons and expungements to become a reality.”
