In the US, having a criminal record has dramatic consequences on your ability to live a normal life. From not being able to buy a home to being rejected from a job, one conviction can make it almost impossible for a person to assimilate back into society. This reality is especially sour for people who have cannabis convictions in California where marijuana is now legal. The state is home to an estimated one million people who still suffer the consequences of past cannabis convictions. Efforts to expunge the records of those with cannabis charges is already underway, but it can take months or even years for the process to be completed. That’s why a nonprofit organization called Code For America has designed an algorithm that makes it far easier for Californians to have those convictions stricken from their records. The tool uses character recognition tech to analyze court files, looking for those eligible for expungement. It then automatically fills out the necessary paperwork and uploads the files in bulk to the court system for a judge’s signature. During a pilot project in San Francisco, Clear My Record found 8,132 eligible criminal records in just minutes — far more than the 1,230 found manually at expungement clinics since the legalization of cannabis in the state. Los Angeles County and San Joaquin County now plan to use the tool, and by the end of 2019, Code For America expects to help governments clear 250,000 cannabis convictions.