By Anthony Payero
(NEW JERSEY) Courts across New Jersey have thrown out at least 88,000 marijuana convictions since July 1, with more cases slated to be dismissed, according to ABC 7.
A state Supreme Court order was sent out earlier in July to begin the process of decriminalizing specific pot-related offenses in New Jersey.
This is the first round of an expected 360,000 cases related to marijuana that qualify for expungement in the Garden State, per ABC 7.
Cases to be considered include those related to distribution and possession of certain quantities of marijuana, possession of paraphernalia, use or being under the influence of marijuana and operating a motor vehicle while in possession of marijuana.
The Judiciary, after dismissing convictions and cases, will erase those cases for good later this year.
Probation violations or pretrial monitoring will also be done away with; driver's license suspensions or revocations for failure will be overturned as well.
The order calls for cases of eligible defendants that are pending sentencing or have gone through sentencing be dismissed, per ABC 7.
There will be an electronic system in place to permit staff to show a certification of expungement to the public seeking to find out if there case has gone through the process successfully.