Expungement of marijuana convictions slowed by bottlenecks

By BRENDA FLANAGAN, SENIOR CORRESPONDENT | OCTOBER 10, 2022 | SOCIAL, LAW & PUBLIC SAFETY

Some advocates would like expungement of higher-level marijuana crimes

When Gov. Phil Murphy signed the law empowering New Jersey courts to automatically expunge more than 360,000 criminal convictions involving small amounts of marijuana, social justice advocates considered it a good beginning. But they’re concerned that expungement is not happening as quickly as they had envisioned because of logistical bottlenecks. There are “unfortunate delays for a lot of people who are seeking expungement, for those who’ve gotten their expungement but they’re waiting for the process to catch up,” said Akil Roper, vice president and assistant general counsel at Legal Services of New Jersey.

Some advocates would like to see the expungement of higher-level marijuana crimes, to help more people cleanse their records, especially as cannabis is now for sale legally in New Jersey.

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