I wonder what will happen in Canada once October 17th, the legalization date comes.
Seattle judges throw out 15 years of marijuana convictions
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Re: Seattle judges throw out 15 years of marijuana convictions
#12I wonder what will happen in Canada once October 17th, the legalization date comes.
The majority of drug offenses (~55,000 of ~95,000) in Canada for 2016 were cannabis related. There must be hundreds of thousands of people living in Canada with criminal records due to marijuana prohibition. One would expect they'd wipe all of the records clean, recent or distant past.
Re: Seattle judges throw out 15 years of marijuana convictions
#13Earlier quoted context omitted.
You gotta start small and iterate. Going for world peace with the first step isn't going to work.
This is terrible news for those that didn't get included. The public will miss the details and think that everyone was included. Anyone with a conviction outside this arbitrary time period will be assumed to have some extenuating circumstances that meant that their conviction was upheld.
Is that really worse for people who were omitted by this legislature that this legislature passed? Because I can't see any change.
Re: Seattle judges throw out 15 years of marijuana convictions
#14If this happens retroactively, 2/3 of the jail pop[ulations would be free to live their lives without pain, despair, the misery of 6x10 21 hours a day even. Fact.
Do you have a source for that? Not saying you're wrong but would be interested to read.
I had a quick look but couldn't find one.
Re: Seattle judges throw out 15 years of marijuana convictions
#15> "For too many who call Seattle home, a misdemeanour marijuana conviction or charge has created barriers to opportunity - good jobs, housing, loans and education," she said.
The problem isn't the marijuana convictions, the problem is a society that believes people with criminal records can and should have their entire lives ruined for it. It's a society that doesn't believe in rehabilitation, just "good people" and "bad people".
Re: Seattle judges throw out 15 years of marijuana convictions
#16For comparison, what happened just after alcohol prohibition ended in the USA?
(I'm not American, so not too familiar with this.)
Re: Seattle judges throw out 15 years of marijuana convictions
#17> "For too many who call Seattle home, a misdemeanour marijuana conviction or charge has created barriers to opportunity - good jobs, housing, loans and education," she said. The problem isn't the marijuana convictions, the problem is a society that believes people with criminal records can and should have their entire lives ruined for it. It's a society that doesn't believe in rehabilitation, just "good people" and…
Curious: don't these people still have to report the arrests in some forms /for some jobs even if they're vacated? "Have you ever been arrested or jailed..."
I know US immigration specifically asks to mention even if pardoned or expunged.
Re: Seattle judges throw out 15 years of marijuana convictions
#18What about the people who were convicted 15 years and 1 month ago? Or 16 years? Or 20 years? Feels pretty arbitrary.
You gotta start small and iterate. Going for world peace with the first step isn't going to work.
Law is not a lean startup.
In many countries there are constitutional principles to prevent arbitrary pardon. If a law was unjust all prisoners are freed.
Re: Seattle judges throw out 15 years of marijuana convictions
#19> "For too many who call Seattle home, a misdemeanour marijuana conviction or charge has created barriers to opportunity - good jobs, housing, loans and education," she said. The problem isn't the marijuana convictions, the problem is a society that believes people with criminal records can and should have their entire lives ruined for it. It's a society that doesn't believe in rehabilitation, just "good people" and…
Why can't they both be problems?
Re: Seattle judges throw out 15 years of marijuana convictions
#20> "For too many who call Seattle home, a misdemeanour marijuana conviction or charge has created barriers to opportunity - good jobs, housing, loans and education," she said. The problem isn't the marijuana convictions, the problem is a society that believes people with criminal records can and should have their entire lives ruined for it. It's a society that doesn't believe in rehabilitation, just "good people" and…
Curious: don't these people still have to report the arrests in some forms /for some jobs even if they're vacated? "Have you ever been arrested or jailed..." I know US immigration specifically asks to mention even if pardoned or expunged.
not sure what types of jobs would make you answer that question (outside of security maybe), but at least in principle, such questions should be completely illegitimate within the US legal system.