In the U.S., a conviction for possession of marijuana can follow you for a lifetime. This may change. Earlier this week, Connecticut’s supreme court ruled in favor of 31-year-old Nicholas Menditto who argued that his two marijuana possession convictions should be erased now that less than a half-ounce of the drug has been decriminalized. While an appeal court had struck down his case, the state’s Supreme court disagreed unanimously, granting Menditto the right to have his record cleared of the charges. Connecticut is not the only state with a provision that defends the right to file a petition for expunction of a crime if it is later decriminalized. According to Justice Carmen Espinosa, the legislature “has determined that such violations are to be handled in the same manner as civil infractions, such as parking violations.”
Landmark ruling in Connecticut could erase marijuana possession convictions
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