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San Joaquin, LA Counties Aim To Wipe Out More Than 50K Old Pot Convictions Using Algorithms

LOS ANGELES (AP) - Los Angeles prosecutors are joining other California district attorneys to tap technology that could wipe out or reduce more than 50,000 old marijuana convictions.

District Attorney Jackie Lacey announced Monday that she is joining forces with a nonprofit organization that uses computer algorithms to identify eligible cases.

San Francisco became the first city in the state to work with Code for America to expunge or reduce 8,000 convictions.

State voters approved eliminating some pot-related crimes and wiping out past criminal convictions or reducing felonies to misdemeanors when they legalized recreational marijuana in 2016.

There was no easy way to identify cases and convicts had to file petitions to get their records changed.

San Joaquin County joined LA in announcing it will take part in the effort to remove about 4,000 cases.

Copyright 2019 The Associated Press.

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