“These victims of the war on drugs deserve to have their names cleared now, today.”
By Emma Davis, Maine Morning Star
The Maine Legislature passed two bills that would expand eligibility for sealing criminal records, one that drops the age requirements for record sealing and another that allows for sealing now-legal marijuana crimes.
While these plans require people to apply to have records sealed, another proposal that would have automated the process failed after criticism that doing so would violate the First Amendment. That bill specifically applied to criminal records for marijuana possession and cultivation that’s since been legalized in Maine.
The Legislature signaled that Maine’s reconciliation with when it may be appropriate to seal criminal records is far from over, as it also passed a bill to make permanent a commission to continue to study the issue.
Unfinished work on this matter was made clear during floor speeches on these bills, as well, from lawmakers who voted both for and against the range of measures.
The bill that removed the age-related prerequisite for sealing criminal history, LD 2188, passed the House 87–59 and the Senate 25–9. Ahead of the Senate vote, Sen. Lisa Keim (R-Oxford), who voted against the
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