5 ms·
It's tragic and cruel how a felony conviction can destroy someone's life over a nonviolent drug offense. Growing up, I knew some people who got felony convictio
by swift 9y ago
It's tragic and cruel how a felony conviction can destroy someone's life over a nonviolent drug offense. Growing up, I knew some people who got felony convictions for possession of marijuana. Now recreational cannabis is legal in a number of states, and it's upsetting to think that the trajectory of their lives could have been totally different if they had been born a decade later.
- glangdale 9y agoIt seems like a 'blanket pardon' for anyone who has no other offenses beyond dealing something that is now legal could go a little way towards helping fix this. It also seems that reforms of sentencing where the maximum penalty was grossly disproportionate (think crack vs cocaine) could have retroactive implementation as well (downgrading spurious felonies to misdemeanors). Not saying you can give people back the trajectory of their lives, of course, but it might help at the margins.