Legalizing Marijuana Doesn't Wipe Record Clean
By Amy E. Feldman
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - US Senator Corey Booker is sponsoring a bill, introduced last month, that would revamp federal marijuana laws and decriminalize its use in certain situations.
Booker said his view was shaped when he was a Newark city councilman, working on expungement hearings for people who'd been convicted of minor drug offenses who couldn't get jobs because of their criminal records.
Which raises the legal question: if you had been convicted of a marijuana possession charge in a city or state where it would now be legal to do what you were convicted of doing, is the conviction automatically considered expunged?
The answer, for now, is no.
Your record will continue to reflect the conviction until you go to court to have your record wiped clean. The state of Washington introduced a bill to expunge such crimes, but for now, until laws change, you're going to have some explaining to do.
