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Illinois County Expunges Cannabis Convictions

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[dropcap class=”kp-dropcap”]O[/dropcap]fficials in Cook County, Illinois are looking to expunge up to 1,000 cannabis convictions.

According to the Chicago Sun-Times, Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx went to court this week to clear as many cannabis convictions as possible on the eve of legal cannabis in the state. Whether or not each person had their files wiped is currently unknown, but they will soon be notified by mail. “As a prosecutor who has previously prosecuted these cases, we must own our role in the harm we have caused, particularly to communities of color, and we must actively work to play our part in reversing those harms,” Foxx said.

In the past, Foxx has spoken personally about her mother, whom she admitted used cannabis to self-medicate before being diagnosed with bipolar disorder. She doesn’t feel that her mother did anything criminal, and wants the community to think of the individual humanity of each person convicted. “The notion that my mother would somehow be criminal, and the fact we have criminalized other mothers and fathers and brothers for a substance that will now be legal seems unjust and unfair,” Foxx said.

“Repairing these harms, that we’ve done over years and years and years of a failed policy; we started that repair today,” said Rep. Kelly Cassidy. “I’m really grateful to have had the opportunity to witness it.”

“We’ll learn from today to be able to give us an accurate timetable,” Fox added regarding clearing all convictions. “I want to be clear, this is the first time anything like this has ever been done in the state of Illinois. Because it’s a new process, we’re gonna learn as we go, but we are optimistic we will be able to have a significant dent [made] in the coming months.”

The lawmakers in the state of Illinois are pretty serious about making sure things are done ethically. Not only do they want to make sure previous convictions are cleared, they are also worried about in public housing not being able to use cannabis.

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