The New Jersey Judiciary on Monday announced that it has vacated or dismissed nearly 88,000 marijuana cases since July 1, when a decriminalization law took effect that mandated the relief for people who have been caught up in prohibition enforcement. In a press release, the courts said these are just the first of about 360,000 cannabis cases that are eligible to be automatically vacated, dismissed, and expunged. The expungement component of the process will happen “in the coming months.” The action comes after Supreme Court Chief Justice Stuart Rabner issued an order at the beginning of the month that also makes it so certain pending marijuana cases must be dismissed, and failure to appear warrants must be rescinded. The judiciary said in a press release that cannabis-related violations of probation or pretrial monitoring will also be vacated, and driver’s license suspensions or revocations for failure to appear for marijuana charges will be rescinded. Further, a new electronic system will be created to allow judiciary staff to provide certification of expungements to members of the public who want to verify whether their records have been cleared.
Kyle Jaeger, Marijuana Moment, 07/13/2021 11:40:00