Gov. Wes Moore issued more than 175,000 pardons for misdemeanor cannabis possession and use convictions Monday morning — one of the largest state-issued pardons in United States history.
“We’ll be clear: This is just a step — this is not a conclusion,” Moore, a Democrat in his first term, said in a interview Monday morning. “You have to be able to right these wrongs in order for the right steps to be made.”
The pardons apply to over 150,000 misdemeanor convictions for cannabis possession and more than 18,000 misdemeanor convictions for use or possession with intent to use drug paraphernalia. Moore called this “the largest such action in our nation’s history” at an Annapolis news conference Monday morning.
Marylanders voted on an overwhelming margin to approve recreational use cannabis for adults during the 2022 general election. Cannabis officially became legalized in the state on July 1, 2023.
“You cannot talk about the benefits of legalization if you’re not willing to deal with the consequences of criminalization,” Moore said. “For people who are walking around with misdemeanor cannabis convictions, the weight of that action for them — in some cases, which are decades old — it still continues to hinder them: their ability to get a job, their ability to go to school, their ability to start a business, their ability to reintegrate with their family members.”
Monday’s pardons will not result in the release of any currently incarcerated person from prison. The cases receiving pardons for misdemeanor use or intent to use drug paraphernalia were not tied in with convictions on other charges.
Moore’s pardons will also not have an affect on voting rights.
In Maryland, people incarcerated for misdemeanors or who are being held pre-trial maintain their right to vote. Those convicted of a felony offense are eligible to register to vote after serving a court-ordered prison sentence.
Officials from the Moore administration were unclear Monday morning exactly how many people will be affected, because some individuals will be pardoned for multiple convictions.
People with these convictions can see if they received a pardon by visiting kiosks at any state courthouse or the Maryland Judiciary Case Search website, which will reflect those pardons in about two weeks. Those who are eligible but did not receive pardons can apply for them through the regular application process, which can be found on the Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services website.
At least a quarter of these pardons will apply to convictions in Baltimore City. Marylanders of color, particularly the Black community, have been disproportionately represented among these convictions.
Pardons, which can only be issued by the governor, still allow for the display convictions on an individual’s record. To have a pardoned conviction removed from a record, people must file for expungement in the court where the case was concluded.
Moore said that the pardons were “a hard-fought victory,” not just for those who will receive them, “but for the soul of our state.”
Moore signed Monday’s executive order issuing the pardons with the Last Prisoner Project’s “Pen to Right History,” which has been used by the loved ones of people impacted by cannabis convictions across the country to write to their elected officials asking for justice.
“Undoing decades of harm cannot happen in a day, but we’re going to keep up the work, we’re going to keep up the pace and were going to do it together. This is about recognizing our collective, shared humanity,” he said. “This is about how changing how both government and society view those who have been walled-off from opportunity because of broken and uneven policies.”
According to the U.S. Department Of Justice Office of the Pardon Attorney, President Joe Biden, a Democrat, issued a proclamation in October 2022 that resulted in pardons for a slew of people convicted of simple cannabis possession at the federal level. He expanded that proclamation late last year to include attempted cannabis possession and some offenses under Washington, D.C., code.
Moore said that the sweeping pardons demonstrate to governors in other states that they have the power to address decades of wrongs independent of the federal government, and that Maryland is “unafraid to lead.”
According to the ACLU of Maryland, 71% of the state’s prison population is constituted of Black men — the highest percentage among states across the country and more than twice the national average.
Moore, the state’s first Black governor, said at the pardon signing ceremony held two days before Juneteenth that Black Marylanders were three times more likely to be arrested for cannabis-related charges than white Marylanders before legalization.
In a statement, Del. Jheanelle Wilkins, a Montgomery County Democrat and the chair of Maryland’s Legislative Black Caucus, celebrated Moore’s historic order, while still recognizing the work that needs to be done in partnership with the General Assembly to “reduce the long-term impact of criminal convictions.”
Those with criminal convictions for cannabis possession face barriers to housing and educational and employment opportunities.
Attorney General Anthony Brown said “the enforcement of cannabis laws has not been colorblind,” noting that, though Black, Latino and white Marylanders use cannabis at the same rate, Black and Latino users face higher rates of arrests and convictions.
“The shackles of slavery, though removed, left an indelible mark on our state, on our nation,” Brown, a Democrat and Maryland’s first Black attorney general, said.
He pointed to post-reconstruction-era Jim Crow laws, the convict leasing system, the war on drugs and the disproportionate arrests and convictions as “the residuals of slavery.”
“This morning, I can almost hear the clanging of those shackles falling to the floor,” Brown said.
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