ID: HR19-1142

Presenting author: Rodney Holcombe

Presenting author biography:

Rodney Holcombe is a staff attorney at the Drug Policy Alliance. He engages in legislative advocacy to expand access to post-conviction relief in the US and to create equity within the rapidly expanding legal cannabis industry. Rodney graduated from the University of Pennsylvania Law School (JD) and Howard University (BA).

Clean Slate: Reducing Barriers to Post-Conviction Relief in the United States

Rodney Holcombe

People convicted of drug law violations in the United States – such as possession, sales, or manufacture of a controlled substance – are relegated to a second-class status. For millions across the nation, a drug conviction means thousands of legal and social barriers after release from prison, jail, or probation, including restrictions to employment, obtaining occupational licenses, qualifying for public benefits, securing loans for higher education, and denial of the right to vote.

Advocates and legislators are beginning, especially as more US States move to legalize cannabis, to acknowledge and address the harms associated with criminalizing some drug offenses by creating opportunities to modify or erase past criminal records, a process known as post-conviction relief. Record modification provides a chance for people to reclaim the lives they lost after their conviction. Processes to change prior cannabis convictions are increasingly popular, especially in states that legalize for recreational use. Unfortunately, these processes are often not widely known, difficult to navigate, and expensive to access. In addition, efforts to change records often only apply to people who completed their sentence, and overlook people who are currently incarcerated. Low-income Black and Latinx Americans are especially impacted by this difficult-to-navigate process. Despite near identical use rates across all races, these two groups are disproportionately arrested, charged, and convicted for drug law violations, and have the hardest time modifying their records.

This presentation will explore the complicated issue of undoing convictions and modifying criminal records as US states move toward less punitive drug policies, including emerging efforts to adequately address this issue and barriers to accessing relief. It will also explore the Drug Policy Alliance’s work in helping people navigate post-conviction relief processes enacted through ballot measures to legalize cannabis, as well as our advocacy to advance policies that make it easier and more accessible.