

Ask HN: If marijuana is legalized, what happens to people jailed for possession? - hoodoof


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JurassicCarp
They stay in jail. Sentences aren't retroactively rescinded when laws change.

Edit: As the response to another post has stated, there may be avenues opened
after decriminalization to appeal convictions. Those avenues will likely vary
from state to state, if they exist at all.

------
melling
"Myth: Prisons are full of people in for marijuana possession"

[http://www.rollingstone.com/culture/lists/top-10-marijuana-m...](http://www.rollingstone.com/culture/lists/top-10-marijuana-
myths-and-facts-20120822/myth-prisons-are-full-of-people-in-for-marijuana-
possession-19691231#ixzz3f3rRWUrA)

If this information is accurate then we are talking about 400 people.

~~~
dalke
How is that relevant to the question?

~~~
melling
How is this question Hacker News?

~~~
dalke
The Hacker News FAQ at
[https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html](https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html)
asks "Please don't submit comments complaining that a submission is
inappropriate for the site", and recommends an alternative course of action.

------
bbrks
They still committed a crime (at the time of arrest/trial), so they will
complete their sentence.

~~~
dalke
According to [http://mic.com/articles/86089/if-the-u-s-legalized-weed-
what...](http://mic.com/articles/86089/if-the-u-s-legalized-weed-what-would-
happen-to-everyone-in-jail-for-marijuana-crimes) (which is one of many
articles that address this topic):

> the Colorado Court of Appeals ruled that the state's Amendment 64, which
> legalized the possession of small amounts of marijuana, meant that some
> offenders could appeal their convictions. A unanimous decision by a three-
> judge panel agreed that the ruling should be interpreted retroactively,
> which immediately overturned the 2011 conviction of a woman for possession,
> and potentially setting the stage for the release of many Coloradans
> incarcerated for marijuana possession. Hundreds of prisoners and persons on
> probation could see their sentences modified, and some could even be
> released.

Quoting further from [http://articles.latimes.com/2014/mar/14/news/la-ol-
marijuana...](http://articles.latimes.com/2014/mar/14/news/la-ol-marijuana-
crimes-colorado-20140314) :

> To start, the Colorado ruling gives marijuana prisoners the right to appeal
> their sentences. It doesn’t guarantee they will actually see any relief.
> That will have to be decided on a case-by-case basis. The ruling also does
> not appear to apply to older convictions, where those who already served
> prison time could petition the court to expunge their records.

> Of course, the ruling doesn’t apply to other states. Washington, which also
> legalized marijuana in 2012, like Colorado, will have to make its own
> provisions for retroactive ameliorative relief.

In any case, federal convictions have no guarantee of retroactive ameliorative
relief.

