Brooklyn DA Eric Gonzalez Dismisses Over 3,500 Marijuana Cases

Brooklyn DA Eric Gonzalez Dismisses Over 3,500 Marijuana Cases Following Legalization

Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez today, [July 27] asked the Court to dismiss 3,578 marijuana cases that remained on the docket mostly because of open warrants. With this move, nearly all marijuana cases in Brooklyn have been dismissed. Since the State Legislature legalized marijuana in March, the DA’s Office dismissed about 240 active cases where marijuana was charged, while marijuana charges that are included in felony cases are being dismissed in the course of court proceedings. District Attorney Gonzalez said, “For too long, criminalization of marijuana has disproportionately impacted young people and communities of color whose members made up about 90% of those arrested. These arrests ruined the lives of thousands of people over the years, saddling many with criminal convictions that prevented them from pursuing opportunities in life. That was why, in Brooklyn, we stopped prosecuting possession cases in 2014 and went further in 2017, declining prosecution of nearly all smoking cases as well. A year later, we also moved to dismiss warrant cases. “I am gratified that the New York Legislature legalized marijuana earlier this year in a bill that included an automatic expungement provision. Since its passage, my Office has moved to dismiss open cases and stated we will no longer bring pending marijuana charges before grand or petit juries. Today, I asked the Court to dismiss over 3,500 warrant cases that remained in the system, effectively clearing the Brooklyn docket from these vestiges of previous models of policing and prosecution. I hope that these actions will help strengthen community trust in the justice system and allow us to continue moving forward with more fairness and equity.” The District Attorney today appeared before Brooklyn Criminal Court Judge Keisha Espinal and requested that 3,578 pending marijuana cases be dismissed and that the Court vacate any relevant arrest warrants, judgments of conviction and guilty pleas related to those cases. The District Attorney said his Office has been leading the city in marijuana decriminalization. His predecessor, the late Ken Thompson, stopped prosecuting marijuana possession cases in Brooklyn in 2014. In 2017, District Attorney Gonzalez, as the acting DA, went further and declined to prosecute nearly all marijuana smoking cases as well. As a result, marijuana arrests in Brooklyn, which numbered in the thousands every year earlier in that decade, had slowed to a trickle by 2018. In September of 2018, the District Attorney moved to vacate over 3,000 summons warrants for marijuana possession and dismissed the underlying cases. In December of that same year, he moved to dismiss over 1,400 criminal court warrants. His Office also initiated a program to erase and seal old marijuana convictions and DA Gonzalez urged Albany to clear those convictions en masse through legislation. Currently, only eight cases that include marijuana charges remain in Brooklyn Criminal Court; they involve allegations of driving while impaired. In Supreme Court, marijuana charges that are included in more serious felony cases will be dismissed in the course of court proceedings and those charges will not be brought before any jury. The District Attorney thanked the Office of Court Administration, especially Antonio Diaz, Acting Chief Clerk of New York City Criminal Court, and Charles Blaha, Acting Borough Chief Clerk of Brooklyn Criminal Court, for facilitating the dismissals. l WASHINGTON: Today, [August 5) U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services announced updated policy guidance affecting children born outside of the United States and the determination of whether children born through assisted reproductive technology (ART) are considered to have been born “in wedlock.” This policy update will allow a nongenetic, non-gestational legal parent of a child to transmit U.S. citizenship to the child if the parent is married to the child’s genetic or gestational parent at the time of the child’s birth, and the relevant jurisdiction recognizes both parents as the child’s legal parents. “USCIS is taking a crucial step towards ensuring fair access and support for all families and their loved ones,” said USCIS Director Ur M. Jaddou. “We are committed to removing unnecessary barriers promoting policies for all people as they embark on their journey to citizenship and beyond.” This guidance will also be applied to the family-based petitions for determining whether a child is born in wedlock. Previously, USCIS required that the child’s genetic parents (or the legal gestational parent and one of the genetic parents) be married to one another for a child to be considered born in wedlock. In 2014, USCIS updated its policy to allow a parent who is the gestational and legal parent of a child under the law of the relevant jurisdiction at the time of the child’s birth to transmit U.S. citizenship to the child if all other citizenship requirements are met.l

USCIS Removes Barriers to U.S. Citizenship for Children Born Abroad Through ART