Holdin' Down The Culture
Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker pardoned over 11,000 prisoners with low-level marijuana convictions on yesterday (12/31) in order to close out the decade. The governor of the 6th largest state in America also stated this constitutes the first wave of thousands of expungements under the state’s new marijuana legalization law. Once these offenses are expunged off of the inmates records it will then make it less of a challenge for them to get jobs, housing and financial aid for college.
An estimated 116,000 convictions are eligible for pardons under the new law.
Governor Pritzker stated,
“We are ending the 50-year-long war on cannabis. We are restoring rights to many tens of thousands of Illinoisans. We are bringing regulation and safety to a previously unsafe and illegal market. And we are creating a new industry that puts equity at its very core.”
Catch the brief clip below where the Governor explains how these racist laws impacted “Black & Brown communities.”
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