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AlterNet reports
This week it was announced that Oregon will be expunging the old records of marijuana offenders, along with their new legalization plan. This measure is the farthest that a state has gone to date in regards to applying the new laws to old cases. However, for people who remain in jail for having a plant, the legalization plan does not go far enough.
According to the New York Times (paywall), people who have low-level felony or misdemeanor marijuana charges on their record that are at least ten years old will be eligible for expungement.
While the transition in Oregon is nowhere near what is needed for the hundreds of thousands who are still incarcerated, the aspect that allows for old cases to be expunged is at least a step in the right direction, and is helping people clear their records so they can avoid discrimination.
"Oregon is one of the first states to really grapple with the issue of what do you do with a record of something that used to be a crime and no longer is", law professor Jenny M. Roberts told the New York Times.
(Score: 2) by Beryllium Sphere (r) on Monday October 05 2015, @02:00AM
Will the ex-convicts still be fscked when prospective employers and dates look them up in databases that Oregon doesn't control?
(Score: 5, Interesting) by deimtee on Monday October 05 2015, @02:45AM
Just how legally complete is an "expungement"?
If a conviction is expunged but someone claims, in print, that you are an ex-convict, can you sue for libel?
For a pardon, I would say no, because that is basically "yes you did it, but you are forgiven", but for an expungement I don't know.
One job constant is that good employers have low turnover, so opportunities to join good employers are relatively rare.
(Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Monday October 05 2015, @08:57PM
A very real distinction exists between an expungement and a pardon. When an expungement is granted, the person whose record is expunged may, for most purposes, treat the event as if it never occurred. A pardon (also called "executive clemency") does not "erase" the event; rather, it constitutes forgiveness. In the United States, an expungement can be granted only by a judge; while a pardon can be granted only by the President of the United States for federal offenses, and the state governor, certain other state executive officers, or the State Board of Pardons and Paroles (varies from state to state) for state offenses.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Expungement [wikipedia.org]
So it sounds like yes, you might be able to sue for libel/slander if they call you a convict.