Freedom at Last
Colorado is helping cannabis consumers clean up the past by providing a pathway to “seal,” or expunge, cannabis-related misdemeanors. The Colorado House and Senate voted to approve House Bill 1266, which enables Coloradans to seal past misdemeanor cannabis convictions if they occurred on or after December 10, 2012. The bill was signed into law on May 18.
Most major employers conduct pre-employment criminal background checks with varying degrees of scrutiny. Using a criminal background check, employers can screen for arrests stretching back seven years, or criminal convictions that occurred at any time. Mandatory checks can be expected for those who are applying to be a nurse or a licensed child care provider, as well as when applying for jobs at public schools and federal or state governments. Although the bulk of employers can look past something a misdemeanor, it can often prevent qualified job applicants from getting jobs that they deserve—and there are many other ways that old convictions can haunt misdemeanants.
“Colorado has had one of the harshest sealing or expungement laws in the country. It’s very difficult to get a case pardoned by the governor—the only other opportunity you would have.”
On May 3, the Colorado House voted 58-5 to approve HB-1266, and it cleared the Senate with a 34-1 vote on May 10. Governor John Hickenlooper signed the bill into law on May 18 on the campus of the University of Colorado, Boulder. The bill allows those with cannabis-related misdemeanors to virtually erase the convictions after December 2012 from their records.
Persons who were convicted of misdemeanors for the use or possession of cannabis are allowed to petition for the sealing of their records under certain conditions. If the misdemeanor occurred on or after December 10, 2012, and all necessary steps are taken, the respective court will order their records to be sealed.
Attorney H. Michael Steinberg, Criminal Defense Specialist, explained to CULTURE how this new law will give people the second chance they deserve. “I’m in favor of giving many, many people in Colorado that have convictions, and specifically minor ones like cannabis misdemeanors, a second chance,” Steinberg said. “Colorado has had one of the harshest sealing or expungement laws in the country. It’s very difficult to get a case pardoned by the governor—the only other opportunity you would have. Colorado’s laws are very strict in that regard.”
Clearing your record in Colorado can be tricky, even for forgettable petty crimes. Colorado calls expunging records “sealing.” “There are two ways to clear your record,” Steinberg added. “An expungement is different than a pardon. In Colorado, if you seal your record, the item is removed from the record, totally. There’s only a couple kinds of crimes that they [currently] allow you to seal. One of those is what they call petty offenses—the lowest level of crime that you can be charged with under Colorado law.”
Senate Bill 13-250, a similar advantageous bill, was enacted in June of 2013 and allows Colorado residents to apply to have old felony drug convictions downgraded to a Class 1 misdemeanor. The law was needed, because in 1985, the Colorado state legislature doubled the maximum penalty for felony crimes. “[Under SB-13-250] you can seal a very old drug felony conviction. The movement has been in the direction of allowing you to seal drug related convictions after a passage of time,” Steinberg said. “If you have a drug felony conviction, today you can attempt to seal that, and there’s a whole procedure for doing that. But misdemeanors, unless they are drug-related, they have a waiting period.”
The new law allows residents to erase convictions for possessing a plant that is no longer illegal in Colorado. It only makes sense to allow criminal records to reflect current law. This is the latest step towards the normalization of cannabis in Colorado.
