The mayor of Birmingham, Alabama, announced on Tuesday that 15,000 people would be issued pardons for misdemeanor marijuana convictions.
Mayor Randall Woodfin said the blanket pardons would apply to convictions made between 1990 and 2020. Marijuana usage is still illegal in the state of Alabama.
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“Here’s why we’re doing this — no one should be held up by a single past mistake,” the Democrat said in a Tuesday statement on the city’s Facebook page. “No one should be denied job opportunities or freedoms due to missteps from the past. No longer will these residents be bound to their past. They deserve a chance to be part of our work force, to provide for their families and to achieve success on their own.”
Since 2019, the city’s Pardon for Progress program has allowed those convicted of marijuana possession to apply for a pardon. Only nine pardons have been issued since the initiative began, according to AL.com.
The decision does not affect pending cases. Those will need to be resolved before a pardon can be issued, according to the mayor.
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Woodfin said the “pardon addresses the closed conviction only and not any associated fees, fines or costs connected to the case.”
He also encouraged people to sign a petition encouraging Alabama to decriminalize marijuana.
“These pardons are a strong start, but our work is far from done,” he said.
