On July 11, 2022, Philadelphia Lawyers for Social Equity (PLSE) presented to Governor Tom Wolf, Lt. Governor John Fetterman and the Pennsylvania Board of Pardons a Petition for General Pardon (Amnesty) that would forgive everyone in Pennsylvania who has been convicted of a marijuana offense that did not involve violence, or the threat of violence, to anyone.
On September 1, 2022, the Governor, Lt. Governor and Board of Pardons announced the PA Marijuana Pardon Project, which they termed an “effort to quickly pardon thousands of Pennsylvanians from marijuana-related convictions.” The Project only covers people who apply by September 30; only those with either of two limited misdemeanor marijuana convictions; only those who are able to access and complete the form via the internet; and only those who are first able to successfully navigate the complexities of the “Keystone Login” system to get a Username and Password – a system that even lawyers have called “a nightmare.”
A greater problem – and maybe an insurmountable one for most with records – is that the application requires the Docket Number, County, and Offense Tracking Number (OTN) for each conviction. That requirement runs directly into Pennsylvania’s Clean Slate law, which removes (“seals”) all of that information from public access after ten years. Despite the program’s promise to review convictions of any age, no instructions are given how to get this information if it has already been sealed. In other words, if the marijuana conviction occurred before September 1, 2012, this special program may not apply.
“The Governor said today that ‘I am committed to doing everything in my power to support Pennsylvanians who have been adversely affected by a minor marijuana offense on their record,’” said PLSE’s Executive Director Renee Chenault Fattah. “The Program announced today is a start, and I am going to take the Governor at his word. If the Program does not produce the ‘thousands’ of applications he has predicted, I trust the Governor will be ready to take more, bigger steps that are ‘within his power.’
If you wish to seek a pardon for a marijuana offense, call Mooney Law today, before September 30, 2021. Call today at 717-632-4656 or 717-200-HELP. You can also complete the Schedule a Consultation form on our website.
