Maine's Judiciary Committee voted 10-0, with four members absent, for LD 2236, which lets people apply to seal marijuana possession and cultivation convictions, Maine Morning Star reported in March 2024. LD 2269, which would have sealed such records automatically for convictions from 2001 to January 30, 2017, was rejected 7-3.
Sealing under LD 2236 requires a post-judgment application rather than happening automatically. The Maine Press Association raised First Amendment public-access concerns about automatic sealing, and a judicial branch analyst warned that broad sealing needs substantial added resources.
Why it matters: People with old Maine marijuana convictions would have to apply to get relief rather than receiving it automatically.
Source: Maine Morning Star (via States Newsroom), 2024-03-28. Forgotten Prisoner's account is based on this reporting.