LOADINGERROR LOADING
Maryland Gov. Wes Moore (D) will pardon more than 175,000 low-level marijuana convictions on Monday, one of the nation’s largest acts of mass clemency, The Washington Post reported.
“I’m ecstatic that we have a real opportunity with what I’m signing to right a lot of historical wrongs,” Moore told the Post on Sunday night, adding his action will help undo decades of harm toward people of color. “If you want to be able to create inclusive economic growth, it means you have to start removing these barriers that continue to disproportionately sit on communities of color.”
Advertisement
The pardon is meant to coincide with this week’s Juneteenth holiday. Full data of those who will be pardoned will be announced at an event on Monday, although the Post said upwards of 100,000 people could benefit from the act.
The move comes amid ongoing efforts to legalize marijuana nationwide, and Moore described the pardon as one of the most “far-reaching and aggressive” efforts to do so thus far. Only Massachusetts has issued a pardon on a similar scale after Gov. Maura Healey (D) did so in March. Her action could ultimately help hundreds of thousands of people.
Maryland Gov. Wes Moore speaks at