Judges from Connecticut have approved more than 80 percent of requests to erase cannabis possession convictions starting back when the state decriminalized minimal amounts of marijuana in 2011, according to state Judicial Branch records.
Superior Court judges have approved 32 of 39 petitions of being in favor of erasing convictions from cannabis possession in the past 4 years, after Gov. Dannel P Malloy and state lawmakers lowered the possession to less than 14 grams of cannabis from a misdemeanor with possible jail time to a violation similar to a traffic citation, with fines ranging from $150 for a first time offense all the way up to $500 for subsequent offenses.
However the quantity of erasures is minimal in contrast to the thousands of run in with the law from cannabis possession in Connecticut over the years, defense lawyers foresee many people to apply as word travels about a recent state Supreme Court decision. The court came to the result back in March that people have the right to get their convictions erased.
Eight out of the 32 petitions that were passed since 2011 were approved after the high court’s decision. With just eight petitions to erase cannabis convictions that are currently pending in state courts. “The biggest problem is that not many people are aware. Some people aren’t aware of what their rights are,” Bloomfield attorney Aaron Romano stated.
The case of a particular client of Romano’s, Nicholas Menditto, was the person that led to the Supreme Court ruling. The state at first turned down Menditto’s request to erase his two convictions for cannabis possession back in 2009, yet a judge recently approved his petitions in the wake of the Supreme Court decision.
Menditto, who has other criminal convictions that remain on his record, stated his main goal in working the case to the state Supreme Court was to aid others who may be having problems getting employment or obtaining public housing due to issues from minor marijuana convictions.
“It benefits the thousands of other people out there who only have these small marijuana convictions on their record,” he stated. “It’s important. I’m just happy I’m helping other people.”
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