Thanks to an initiative that Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez has advocated for, in the fight for decriminalization, New York City residents who have open warrants and low-level convictions for possession of marijuana are being given the opportunity to have their slates wiped clean this weekend.
Earlier this month, Gonzalez announced plans to begin on an endeavor to get up to 20,000 misdemeanor marijuana offenses dismissed through his Begin Again program. With the support of The Legal Aid Society, Brooklyn Defender Services, and the Office of Court Administration - Begin Again will be marking select dates for eligible offenders to come through the Lenox Road Baptist Church in Flatbush, Brooklyn and have marijuana-related misdemeanor convictions and warrants vacated from their records.
The first dates kicked off at the 1356 Nostrand Avenue location on Friday, September 21 and will come to its completion on Saturday, September 22. The church's doors open at 9 a.m. and close to applicants at 3 p.m. Gonzalez has stated that his aim is to expunge up to 2,000 cases involving non-violent marijuana warrants and convictions.
During his appearance on Hot 97's Ebro In The Morning on Wednesday, September 19, Gonzalez stated that the goal is to help reestablish faith in the justice system, primarily among disadvantaged people of color who have been impacted by laws that research shows they were targeted by during the controversial war on drugs.
"Too much of what's happened in the past has fallen on the backs of Blacks and Brown people," Gonzalez told the show's hosts and the audience that tuned in to hear about the program. "With the clearing of these warrants, we know that predominantly 90 percent of the people who had these warrants were people of color."
