Among other life-changing benefits, securing a pardon can have lasting impacts on an individual’s employment prospects and reduce criminal-history calculations upon future convictions. Indeed, a pardon results in the nullification of punishment or other legal consequences of a conviction. The pardon process typically takes many months from filing to decision. But for the month of September, individuals convicted of possessing marijuana, in violation of 35 P.S. 780-113(a)(31) (possession of a small amount of marijuana), can apply for expedited review under the Pennsylvania Marijuana Pardon Project. To qualify for a pardon under the special project, the marijuana conviction(s) must have occurred in Pennsylvania, the individual must not have convictions for other crimes, and the individual cannot have convictions in other states or in federal court. For more information on the Project, individuals can visit https://www.pa.gov/guides/mj-pardon/ or contact our office.
Individuals with other convictions can also contact our Harrisburg office for information on the regular pardon process at (717) 234-4121. For more information on our criminal defense practice visit Central PA Criminal Defense | Central PA Criminal Defense.