Exploring criminal justice echoes of past marijuana conviction in era of reform

A student in my Marijuana Law, Policy & Reform seminar this week in his presentation is addressing what he calls “one narrow evidentiary aspect of a much broader area of study: the effect of legalization on how society and the law treat people with marijuana-related felonies who would not have been guilty of the offense after legalization.” As he explains, he will be using California as a case study to “examine the effect of Proposition 64 (The Adult Marijuana Use Act) on Cal. Evid. Code 788, which allows parties to admit criminal records of convicted felons to impeach their credibility.” Here are the materials he has suggested for class consumption in this way:

Digestible:

S.E. Smith, Punishing Felons After They’ve Served Their Time, This Ain’t Livin’ (Oct. 14, 2013) 

Chris Conrad, Current California Penalties vs. Prop 64: Adult Use of Marijuana Act, Drug Policy Action (2016)

In the Weeds:

J. Richards Couzens & Tricia A. Bigelow, Propositon 64: “Adult Use of Marijuana Act” Resentencing Procedures and Other Selected Provisions, Barrister Press (Nov. 2016) 

Richard S. Frase, Punishment Purposes, 58 Stan. L. Rev. 67 (2005).

Joshua Dressler, Hating Criminals: How Can Something that Feels So Good Be Wrong?, 88 Mich. L. Rev. 1448 (1990).