The city of San Francisco is erasing thousands of marijuana-related convictions by retroactively applying California's legalization laws, the San Francisco Chronicle reports. While anyone with a marijuana conviction in California can petition a court to dismiss their case, per the state's Proposition 64, which legalized recreational marijuana use in 2016, District Attorney George Gascón said Wednesday that the city will simply review the cases en masse.
As a result, more than 3,000 misdemeanor cases stretching back to 1975 are being dismissed, the San Francisco Chronicle reports. Thousands of other felony cases will additionally be reviewed.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
Why are home insurance prices going up?Today's Big Question Climate-driven weather events are raising insurers' costs
-
'All too often, we get caught up in tunnel vision'Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
2024: the year of legacy media failuresIn the Spotlight From election criticism to continued layoffs, the media has had it rough in 2024
-
Honda and Nissan in merger talksSpeed Read The companies are currently Japan's second and third-biggest automakers, respectively
-
Taylor Swift wraps up record-shattering Eras tourSpeed Read The pop star finally ended her long-running tour in Vancouver, Canada
-
Drake claims illegal boosting, defamationSpeed Read The rapper accused Universal Music of boosting Kendrick Lamar's diss track and said UMG allowed him to be falsely accused of pedophilia
-
'Wicked' and 'Gladiator II' ignite holiday box officeSpeed Read The combination of the two movies revitalized a struggling box office
-
Jussie Smollet conviction overturned on appealSpeed Read The Illinois Supreme Court overturned the actor's conviction on charges of staging a racist and homophobic attack against himself in 2019
-
Quincy Jones, music icon, is dead at 91Speed Read The legendary producer is perhaps best known as the architect behind Michael Jackson's 'Thriller'
-
OJ Simpson, star athlete tried for murder, dead at 76Speed Read The former football hero and murder suspect lost his battle with cancer
-
Momofuku's 'Chili Crunch' trademark uproarSpeed Read The company's attempt to own the sole rights has prompted backlash
