Chicago prosecutor to start erasing pot convictions soon
Source: Associated Press
Updated 6:14 pm CDT, Monday, April 15, 2019
CHICAGO (AP) — A top Chicago prosecutor says she hopes to begin expunging minor cannabis convictions in the coming months but acknowledges it won't be easy to implement her plan and that her office is still figuring out its scope.
Cook County State's Attorney Kim Foxx told the Chicago Sun-Times last week that she wants to enlist the help of San Francisco-based nonprofit, Code for America, which has already aided with expunging records in California.
Code for America "can help us find some infrastructure support of being able to look at the (Cook County) clerk's office, Dorothy Brown's office, to be able to identify batches of people who are found or convicted of the statutory code for possession of marijuana," Foxx said.
Kiera Ellis, a spokeswoman for Foxx, said the state's attorney's office and Code for America have yet to sign an official contract. Code for America spokeswoman Maria Buczkowski confirmed the nonprofit is in discussions with the attorney's office but declined to comment. Ellis previously said that people with convictions will not have to petition for expungements separately.
Read more: https://www.chron.com/news/crime/article/Chicago-prosecutor-to-start-erasing-pot-13768736.php
