Justice Arrives For 26,000 San Diegans: Cannabis Felonies Reduced To Misdemeanors

SAN DIEGO – The San Diego Union-Tribune reports that San Diego County announced that nearly 26,000 people with felony cannabis-law violations on their records in San Diego County had them reduced to misdemeanors last month.

Furthermore, 1,000 people with misdemeanor cannabis convictions had their cases completely dismissed, the San Diego Union-Tribune reported Sunday.

An order signed by San Diego Superior Court Judge Eugenia Eyherabide (pictured above in The San Diego Union-Tribune) on Feb. 5, the newspaper said. The law requires the Department of Justice and local prosecutors to compile and review all eligible cases and submit the list to local courts by July 1 last year, but the process was delayed due to the coronavirus pandemic.

San Diego County District Attorney submitted a list of cases eligible for relief as part of Proposition 64, the 2016 law that legalized Cannabis use in the State.

While it may take some time to update individual court records to reflect the changes, the court system is now working through those hurdles, the newspaper said.  Those who need their record reflected sooner can file a petition, the courts said.