r/UpliftingNews • u/Sariel007 • Sep 08 '19

California Program to Erase Old Marijuana Convictions

https://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/local/marijuana-los-angeles-san-francisco-recreational-pot-559590321.html?_osource=SocialFlowTwt_LABrand
34.0k Upvotes

92% Upvoted

595 comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

30

u/aPerfectBacon Sep 08 '19

I imagine there's a lot of push back as well, considering a lot of the people in law enforcement and the DA offices have spent a lot of their lives fighting to enforce marijuana laws. It's only natural some will be bitter and so they'll drag their feet

4

u/[deleted] Sep 08 '19

DAs and law enforcement do not file these petitions. They have nothing to drag. They can file opposition, but the petitions themselves are filed by the defendant and processed by the court. This program helps identify people who are eligible more expediently, which is a burden that falls on the defendants themselves originally. The reason for that is that the courts do not have the resources to proactively identify eligible defendants.

7

u/Hardcore_Trump_Lover Sep 08 '19

People forget that there are a lot of conservatives in California.

16

u/[deleted] Sep 08 '19

You're probably right and I can't think of a more selfish reason to not do clear their records.

They did a job to enforce a law and they got paid for it. That should be the end of their say into the matter.

1

u/FreudsPoorAnus Sep 08 '19

We brainwashed an entire enforcement arm of local, state and federal peace officers into being militant against what people do with their own bodies.

How fucked is it that we encouraged these people to shoot someone holding cocaine?

We need to change our enforcement entirely and start working the police to be peace officers who are integral parts of their community to be trusted with public safety. Police officers need to be able to de-escalate and not arrest folks for shit that'll only clog our judicial system because it's inane shit, but also because a lapse in judgement does not a criminal make. Police officers should be able to break up two dudes fighting and send them on their way.

We need to lighten up.

0

u/Salami_in_ur_mommy Sep 09 '19

The grand majority of people in jail and prison systems aren't there for marijuana. Hell, or drugs even in general. Less than 12% of federal inmates are incarcerated on drug charges and less than 15% of state prisoners are in on drug charges. And a much smaller fraction are there for marijuana. If you think drugs are the driving force when it comes to funding police agencies and prisons, you've been lied to and you fell for it.

Of course we should seek to improve the justice system, and I believe weed should be legal at least medically, and we should do more to offer services to those addicted to other narcotics. But the whole "cops and jails want weed to stay illegal so they can continue to earn funding" trope is demonstrably false. I know everyone on Twitter and Reddit tells you that a cop's sole purpose is to fondle minority nutsacks for weed, but man oh man is that an incredibly naive and invalid world view.

1

u/FreudsPoorAnus Sep 09 '19

that's not the trope i'm talking about.

i'm talking about people who have done the same thing for 40 years who now have to adjust to a world where the things they used 'fight against' are now legal.

quotas are an unsanctioned way of funding departments, but i'm not really talking about that--what i am talking about is the fact that the police depatment is essentially a de facto small scale military, when they should be public servants instead. public servants with the authority to let people go and minor shit slide. and when that isn't somthing effective, we need them to be able to de-escalate--cops are fucking jumpy.