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* Press release…
Cook County State’s Attorney Kimberly M. Foxx and Code for America today announced a cutting-edge partnership to use Clear My Record technology to automatically seal tens of thousands of eligible cannabis convictions in Cook County under a newly passed Illinois law.
Signed into law in June, the Cannabis Regulation and Tax Act will provide relief to tens of thousands of Illinois residents. Cook County is the first county outside of California to take part in Code for America’s Clear My Record program to help government automatically clear convictions eligible for relief under the law. By providing proactive and automatic record clearance services, Illinois has an opportunity to address the wrongs caused by the failed war on drugs, felt most acutely in communities of color, and fulfill the promise of the reforms aimed at remedying the legacy of mass incarceration in Illinois.
“The technology and innovation made possible through our partnership with Code for America will help us provide broad and equitable conviction relief for tens of thousands of people while ensuring that more of our time and resources can be used to combat violent crime,” said Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx. “This partnership is one of many steps Cook County is taking to leverage technology in order to better serve our community and bring our criminal justice system into the 21st century.”
“Code for America’s partnership with Cook County expands our Clear My Record program to a second state and further proves that justice can happen at the scale and speed we know is possible in the digital age,” said Jennifer Pahlka, Founder and Executive Director, Code for America. “Thanks to the leadership of State’s Attorney Foxx, we’ll provide conviction relief expeditiously, at reduced cost, and in bulk in Illinois, and help tens of thousands of individuals get a fresh start. And we’ll continue to show that government can work as it should for all people, when we bring government into the 21st century.”
The Cannabis Regulation and Tax Act
Illinois recently legalized the sale and use of recreational marijuana and created an opt-in process for the Illinois Attorney General and State’s Attorneys to clear convictions in their jurisdictions. Now, State’s Attorneys can receive a list of eligible convictions from the Illinois State Police to review and grant relief by submitting those eligible convictions to the courts for final approval.Record Clearance for the Digital Age
With the aid of Code for America’s Clear My Record technology, an office can automatically and securely evaluate eligibility for record clearance by reading and interpreting conviction data in just a few minutes. This requires no action on the part of the individual and greatly reduces staff time and resources — two obstacles to record clearance. Streamlining conviction data processing also will make it easier for courts to update records, ensuring that individuals can obtain relief as soon as possible.By rethinking the clearance process from top to bottom and using digital tools to examine criminal record data, this partnership will create a statewide technology and policy blueprint in Illinois.
This partnership demonstrates a growing momentum for automatic record clearance across the nation. It builds on recent announcements that Code for America’s Clear My Record technology is helping counties in California dismiss and seal more than approximately 75,000 cannabis convictions. Once this pilot is completed, Cook County will share its findings with the state and other Illinois counties.
Code for America has been making it easier for people to remove eligible convictions from their records through their Clear My Record technology since 2016. Code for America has set a goal of clearing 250,000 eligible convictions nationwide by the end of 2019.
* Sun-Times…
So far, the software has been used to identify at least 67,000 convictions in four California counties, including San Francisco and Los Angeles, according to Code for America. After a final county is brought into the pilot program, Code for America will release an open source toolkit that will help California’s 53 other counties expunge their own convictions.
“We hope it’s part of a larger agenda that gets people to challenge the conventional thinking about how our government can work,” Pahlka said.
Foxx said Code for America was offering its services at no cost to the county, but taxpayers will have to foot the bill for mailing the notifications and other administrative costs.
* CBS 2…
Foxx said in a news conference Tuesday that the process would begin with newer convictions and move back to older convictions.
The process will not require any intervention by the person affected, Foxx confirmed.
Foxx was a crucial part of the effort to pass legalization. She was able to assure black and Latinx legislators that the expungement provisions were real.
posted by Rich Miller
Tuesday, Aug 27, 19 @ 11:52 am
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Good on her. A lot of people will find getting employment a lot easier.
Comment by PJ Tuesday, Aug 27, 19 @ 11:57 am
1) “Code for America was offering its services at no cost to the county,” and 2) “The process will not require any intervention by the person affected”
Sounds ideal.
– MrJM
Comment by @misterjayem Tuesday, Aug 27, 19 @ 12:03 pm
smart move and 2020 is just around the corner.
Comment by Donnie Elgin Tuesday, Aug 27, 19 @ 12:27 pm
Nice move. I wonder how it actually works as so much of local government has crazy old legacy technology. Smart move politically to try to recapture some good government ground by Foxx.
Comment by Three Dimensional Checkers Tuesday, Aug 27, 19 @ 12:51 pm
Sounds good. Almost too good. Expunging records might be worth having some human review.
Comment by A guy Tuesday, Aug 27, 19 @ 12:51 pm
Foxx states that taxpayers will have to pay for mailing and administration costs. But there is a Cannabis Expungement Fund established for those costs.
Comment by A Jack Tuesday, Aug 27, 19 @ 1:08 pm
Unfortunately, even if a conviction is expunged, a person’s arrest will not be. That means a a background check requiring fingerprints being submitted to the AFIS Database will turn up the arrest. Employers by law can’t inquire if no conviction but still will consider this in their hiring decision
Comment by TS Tuesday, Aug 27, 19 @ 1:17 pm
Actually TS, arrests can be expunged.
Comment by Anon E Moose Tuesday, Aug 27, 19 @ 1:30 pm
I suggest they have 300 cases that are reviewed by people and run those same cases through the software. If they get the same outcomes, then go ahead. If the review criteria are written wrong on the software, this should surface it.
Comment by Last Bull Moose Tuesday, Aug 27, 19 @ 1:42 pm
Agree strongly with Bull Moose. Let’s have a qualitative test before moving forward. This program could be a runaway train of glitches and problems involving a lot of people’s very private information. Kim Foxx is not exactly at peak trust for analysis and decision making these days.
Comment by Responsa Tuesday, Aug 27, 19 @ 2:23 pm
if it been working in california, I suspect it can work here too and long long overdue
Comment by truthteller Tuesday, Aug 27, 19 @ 3:22 pm
When I was a kid it was a mortal sin to eat meat on Fridays. Chicago hot dogs were always my downfall. Now that its no longer a sin (except during Lent) I’m wondering if I can get record automatically expunged.
Comment by Waldi Tuesday, Aug 27, 19 @ 5:11 pm
Whatever, sick and tired of head law enforcement always protecting criminals. I don’t see anything about victims. Homicides go unpunished, but hell lets let everyone out with $100 bail, gun charge, no problem, probation. Whatever, I could care less about pot charges, but really this is where your efforts are, always criminals first. Bad sign.
Comment by 44th Tuesday, Aug 27, 19 @ 6:56 pm
==criminals. I don’t see anything about victims.==
Who is the victim in a cannabis conviction? The above article isn’t about homicides.
Comment by Da Big Bad Wolf Tuesday, Aug 27, 19 @ 9:20 pm
==always criminals first. ==
They won’t be criminals Jan 1. Per the laws.
Comment by Da Big Bad Wolf Tuesday, Aug 27, 19 @ 9:41 pm
“I could care less about pot charges”
Then rant somewhere else.
The subject at hand is automatic expungement of criminal records for persons convicted of possessing under 30 grams of cannabis.
– MrJM
Comment by @misterjayem Wednesday, Aug 28, 19 @ 9:01 am