{"id":1352,"date":"2023-03-08T17:45:29","date_gmt":"2023-03-08T21:45:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.duanemorris.com\/cannabis\/?p=1352"},"modified":"2023-05-30T15:35:19","modified_gmt":"2023-05-30T19:35:19","slug":"application-for-federal-pardons-of-marijuana-possession-now-available","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.duanemorris.com\/cannabis\/2023\/03\/08\/application-for-federal-pardons-of-marijuana-possession-now-available\/","title":{"rendered":"Application for Federal Pardons of Marijuana Possession Now Available"},"content":{"rendered":"

As we previously reported<\/a>, on October 6, 2022, President Biden announced that he would pardon those convicted of simple marijuana possession offenses under the federal Controlled Substances Act.\u00a0 As part of his executive action<\/a>, Biden directed the Attorney General to develop an administrative process to issue Certificates of Pardon to eligible individuals.<\/p>\n

On March 3, 2023, the Department of Justice announced<\/a> the launch of an online application form<\/a> for individuals seeking proof that they were pardoned under Biden\u2019s proclamation.\u00a0 The form requires the applicant to provide their full name, contact information, date and place of birth, and citizenship status, followed by information about their charge or conviction with supporting documentation.<\/p>\n

In order to be eligible for the Certificate of Pardon, applicants must satisfy the following:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. \n
      \n
    1. Applicant must have been charged with or convicted of simple marijuana possession by either a federal district court or D.C. Superior Court;<\/li>\n
    2. Applicant must have been a U.S. citizen or lawfully present in the U.S. at the time of the offense; and<\/li>\n
    3. Applicant must have been a U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident on October 6, 2022, when Biden announced the pardon.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

      Note that the pardon neither indicates the innocence of the federal offender nor expunges their conviction.\u00a0 Nevertheless, it may remove civil restrictions such as the right to vote, hold office, or sit on a jury.\u00a0 The pardon may also alleviate limitations placed on obtaining certain licenses or employment.<\/p>\n

      However, Biden\u2019s pardon merely affects several thousand federal offenders.\u00a0 As we previously reported<\/a>, only about 6,500 people have been convicted for simple possession under federal law and a few thousand more have been convicted under the Code of the District of Columbia.\u00a0 The vast majority of cannabis convictions for simple possession occur at the state level.\u00a0 Those convicted of state marijuana offenses do not qualify for the pardon.\u00a0 Biden urged state governors to follow his lead and issue similar pardons.<\/p>\n

      Since Biden\u2019s proclamation, several states have flirted with the idea of pardoning nonviolent marijuana crimes, some of which took more substantial steps forward.\u00a0 For example, on November 21, 2022, the governor of Oregon pardoned more than 47,000 people with convictions for simple marijuana possession and forgave more than $14 million in unpaid fines and fees.<\/p>\n

      As of the present, Connecticut, Missouri, Rhode Island, and Alaska have demonstrated similar relief efforts.\u00a0 Connecticut expunged<\/a> the record of about 44,000 residents convicted of cannabis possession, while Missouri expunged<\/a> the record of about 7,500 residents and ultimately expects<\/a> 100,000 expungements in the coming months.\u00a0 The Chief Justice of the Rhode Island Supreme Court issued an executive order<\/a> directing judges to establish and implement marijuana expungement procedures.\u00a0 Rhode Island expects 30,000 residents to be able to clear their record.\u00a0 Justices of the Alaska Supreme Court issued a similar order<\/a>, permitting residents convicted of possessing less than one ounce of marijuana to seal the records related to such convictions.\u00a0 Alaska expects 800 residents to benefit from the order, which takes effect May 1, 2023.<\/p>\n

      To date, 24 states have enacted legislation to expunge marijuana-related criminal convictions.\u00a0 According to the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws<\/a>, state and local officials have issued more than 100,000 pardons and more than 1.7 million marijuana-related expungements since 2018.\u00a0 More states are likely to follow in the same breadth soon.<\/p>\n

      Read the full text of the article on Law360<\/em><\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

      As we previously reported, on October 6, 2022, President Biden announced that he would pardon those convicted of simple marijuana possession offenses under the federal Controlled Substances Act.\u00a0 As part of his executive action, Biden directed the Attorney General to develop an administrative process to issue Certificates of Pardon to eligible individuals. On March 3, … <\/p>\n

      Continue reading “Application for Federal Pardons of Marijuana Possession Now Available”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":644,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"image","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[903,10,847,904,982,949],"ppma_author":[981],"class_list":["post-1352","post","type-post","status-publish","format-image","hentry","category-general","tag-biden-pardons","tag-cannabis-law","tag-cannabis-lawyers","tag-cannabis-pardons","tag-davydov","tag-pardons","post_format-post-format-image"],"authors":[{"term_id":981,"user_id":644,"is_guest":0,"slug":"rdavydov","display_name":"Robert Davydov","avatar_url":"https:\/\/blogs.duanemorris.com\/cannabis\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/35\/2023\/05\/davydovrobert-100x100.jpg","author_category":"","last_name":"Davydov","first_name":"Robert","job_title":"","user_url":"https:\/\/www.duanemorris.com\/attorneys\/robertdavydov.html","description":"Read Robert's Bio<\/a>"}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.duanemorris.com\/cannabis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1352","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.duanemorris.com\/cannabis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.duanemorris.com\/cannabis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.duanemorris.com\/cannabis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/644"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.duanemorris.com\/cannabis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1352"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.duanemorris.com\/cannabis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1352\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.duanemorris.com\/cannabis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1352"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.duanemorris.com\/cannabis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1352"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.duanemorris.com\/cannabis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1352"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.duanemorris.com\/cannabis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ppma_author?post=1352"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}