Joyce, Ocasio-Cortez Introduce HOPE Act to Encourage State and Local Expungement Programs for Cannabis Offenses

Press Release

Today, Congressman Dave Joyce (OH-14), who is a Co-Chair of the House Cannabis Caucus, and Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (NY-14) introduced the Harnessing Opportunities by Pursuing Expungement (HOPE) Act. This bipartisan bill aims to help states with expunging cannabis offenses by reducing the financial and administrative burden of such efforts through federal grants. Both lawmakers have advocated for cannabis reform on their respective sides of the aisle, with Congressman Joyce sponsoring the first Republican-led effort to decriminalize cannabis at the federal level in the U.S. House.

"Having been both a public defender and a prosecutor, I have seen first-hand how cannabis law violations can foreclose a lifetime of opportunities ranging from employment to education to housing," said Joyce. "The collateral damage caused by these missed opportunities is woefully underestimated and has impacted entire families, communities, and regional economies. By helping states establish and improve expungement programs for minor cannabis offenses, the HOPE Act will pave the way for expanded economic opportunities to thrive alongside effective investments to redress the consequences of the War on Drugs."

"As we continue to advocate for the decriminalization and legalization of marijuana, this bipartisan bill will provide localities the resources they need to expunge drug charges that continue to hold back Americans, disproportionately people of color, from employment, housing and other opportunity," said Ocasio-Cortez.

Prior to the introduction of the HOPE Act, Congress' cannabis expungement efforts have focused solely on federal crimes. However, while a small number of individuals may qualify for the expungement of low-level, federal cannabis charges over the course of decades of enforcement, the reality is that the overwhelming majority of cannabis-related charges are handled by state and local law enforcement. In 2019, the federal government was only involved in a fraction of the 545,000 cannabis offenses charged in the United States. That year, the FBI charged only 5,350 individuals with a top-line charge for any drug offense, not just cannabis.

Unfortunately, despite the fact that expungement programs for cannabis-related offenses have recently advanced in states and cities around the country, many criminal record keeping systems are not ready for or able to support these efforts.Many criminal records, especially ones from decades in the past, are not digitized. Paper records systems not only slow the expungement process but make it much more expensive and burdensome.

The HOPE Act would address these complications by creating a new grant program under the U.S. Department of Justice, the State Expungement Opportunity Grant Program, and authorize it to be funded up to $20 million over the span of Fiscal Years 2023-2032. Through this grant program, the Attorney General would be authorized to make grants to states and local governments to reduce the financial and administrative burden of expunging convictions for cannabis offenses that are available to individuals who have been convicted of such offenses under the laws of the State. Funding provided by the State Expungement Opportunity Grant Program could be used:

for technology to provide cost-effective legal relief at scale;
to automate the process of expunging convictions for cannabis offenses;
for clinics, including legal clinics, that assist individuals through the expungement process;
to implement a notification process for those whose records are expunged as well as to publish publicly accessible information regarding the availability and process of expungement;
to seal records of conviction for cannabis offenses if appropriate; and
for other innovative partnerships to provide wide-scale relief to individuals who are eligible for the expungement of a conviction for a cannabis offense under the laws of the State.
The bill would also require the Attorney General to conduct a study on the impact of cannabis offenses on an individual's criminal record, including impacts related to housing, employment, recidivism, and how such effects differ based on demographics. The study must also include a report on the costs incurred by states for incarcerating an individual convicted of a cannabis offense.

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