The marijuana legalization package now before the Legislature seeks to make expungements of past drug convictions simpler, quicker and more expansive.
But it won’t make them automatic, even if eligibility for such relief will be.
The main bill due to be considered by Senate and Assembly committees Monday would make people eligible to seek an “expedited expungement” in Superior Court and creates an e-filing system by early 2020. A companion bill makes more people eligible to erase their records once they go 10 years without a conviction.
On his public radio call-in show Wednesday, Gov. Phil Murphy said that’s the most that can be done.
“As much as we’d like this to be automatic, and that’s what a lot of folks including yours truly wanted, there really isn’t any feasible way to do that,” Murphy said. “So if you’ve got a conviction, you’re got to take an affirmative step to get that expunged. And we have to set up a system for that.”