Last Prisoner Project (LPP) is honored to be named a member of the expungement task force to ensure all Hawaiians have an opportunity to finally move on with their lives and shed the scarlet letter a criminal conviction imposes. LPP’s appointment to the Clean Slate task force comes on the heels of Governor Green signing HB 1595, a bill that will build out the first-ever state-initiated record clearance program in Hawai’i history. 

In 2019, Hawai‘i decided no one should be arrested for simple possession of cannabis. Before this change in law, even a small amount of cannabis could have landed someone in jail. For those lucky enough to avoid jail time, their arrest still generated a criminal record along with numerous collateral consequences. 

Thousands of Hawai’i residents carry a criminal record for cannabis possession even though they are eligible to have it expunged. Hawaii’s expungement process is petition-based, which is against best practice. Research shows that less than 6.5% of people who are already eligible for an expungement ever have their records expunged because of the cumbersome nature of a petition-based record clearance process. 

Since 2022, LPP has taken an all of the above approach to help design, write, and now implement retroactive relief for past non-violent cannabis convictions. 

• In 2022 we presented to the Dual Use of Cannabis Task Force on best practices and procedures for state-initiated record clearance and sentence modification. 
• In 2023 our recommendations helped shape several legislative efforts to provide retroactive relief for non-violent cannabis convictions, including several adult-use legalization efforts that were unable to become law. 
• LPP was also named in HCR 51, sponsored by Rep Kapela (D), a resolution urging Governor Green to provide retroactive relief for non-violent cannabis convictions.

This year’s legalization push began with a redline drawn by the Hawai’i Attorneys General Office that the Department would actively oppose any attempt to streamline record clearance. Through persistence, diligence, and coordination among key stakeholders, LPP was able to pull together opposing parties to get HB 1595 passed even though legalization did not.”

LPP’s appointment to the expungement task force will help ensure the state-initiated cannabis expungement bill signed by Governor Green is implemented with fidelity and can serve as the foundation for broader record relief moving forward.

We would like to thank Representatives Tarnas, Kapela, Amato, Cochran, Evslin, Ganaden, Garrett, Hussey-Burdick, Lowen, Marten, Miyake, Nakashima, Perruso, Poepoe, Takayama, Todd  Onishi, and Takenouchi as well as Senators Lee, Rhoads, Chang, Keohokalole, San Buenaventura. We also like to extend our gratitude to partner organizations at the Hawai’i Alliance for Cannabis Reform including: ACLU of HI, HI Health Harm Reduction, the Drug Policy Forum of hawai’i, Doctors for Drug Policy Reform, Law Enforcement Action Partnership, Chamber of Sustainable Commerce, Council for Native Hawaiian Advancement, Marijuana Policy Project, and Hawaii Cannabis Industry Solutions.

We look forward to serving Hawaiians and ensuring cannabis justice is fairly implemented!