By Erica Wright
The Birmingham Times
Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin on Tuesday pardoned more than 15,000 individuals with closed misdemeanor marijuana possession convictions between 1990 and 2020.
Woodfin formed a Pardons for Progress program in 2019, an initiative designed to remove barriers to employment for individuals who have been convicted of marijuana possession.
Pardons for Progress, which is for closed cases only, addresses a prior closed conviction of Unlawful Possession of Marijuana, 2nd Degree (Class A misdemeanor) in Birmingham Municipal Court. Open cases must be resolved in court and will not be considered.
“Here’s why we’re doing this,” Woodfin said, “no one should be held up by a single past mistake. No one should be denied job opportunities or freedoms due to missteps from the past.”
The mayor said individuals “deserve a chance to be part of our work force, to provide for their families and to achieve success on their own . . . No longer will these residents be bound to their past.”
He added, “that new life starts rights here, today, with forgiveness and redemption.”
Under state and federal law, marijuana possession remains illegal.
For more information about Pardons for Progress, visit www.birminghamal.gov/pardons.
