Photo: Robyn Beck/AFP via Getty Images
Los Angeles County District Attorney Jackie Lacey announced on Thursday plans to dismiss almost 66,000 marijuana convictions.
The big picture: Lacey cited state legislation that allows the dismissal, per CNN. In 2018, California passed AB 1793, which requires the state Justice Department to look for marijuana-related convictions that are eligible to be wiped out or downgraded to misdemeanors.
- That followed the 2016 passage of Proposition 64, which legalized recreational marijuana in the state and allowed Californians to petition to have old convictions expunged.
- Prosecutors will have until July to review the cases.
- About 45% of those who could see conviction relief are Latino and 32% are black, the district attorney's office said.
What she's saying:
"The dismissal of tens of thousands of old cannabis-related convictions in Los Angeles County will bring much-needed relief to communities of color that disproportionately suffered the unjust consequences of our nation's drug laws."— Jackie Lacey in a news release