Expungement

Clearing criminal records is a priority of the Coalition.

Coalition organizers at the first expungement event at the Port Ministries. September, 2019.

What We Believe

The Cannabis Equity Illinois Coalition believes that if Illinois is going to address the injustices of prohibition, then everyone who has a criminal record for a cannabis offense should have their record cleared immediately. 

We strongly believe in utilizing technology to support this work, and fully support the use of automatic expungement in Illinois. The Coalition also supports the transition to E-Filing, so that someone can submit their petition for expungement using a computer.

The Coalition believes in expunging cannabis records as widely as possible, especially those that are not ‘Stand-alone’ offenses.

Coalition’s Get Your RAP Sheet event. Chicago. September, 2020.

What We Do

The Coalition partners with legal aids organizations across the state to support record clearing, with greater emphasis in Chicagoland. You can also utilize online support through our partners here:

The Coalition organizes events quarterly in Chicago, along with annual events for National Expungement Week. We hope to expand our impact outside of Chicagoland, and to partner with organizations across the state to host events. Please reach out if your organization in interested in partnering!

The Coalition got involved in National Expungement Week in 2019, having been introduced to NEW through our partners in Boston, the Massachusetts Recreational Consumer Council. The Coalition hosted events in Back of the Yards and North Lawndale, where community members were able to learn about the expungement process and connect with an expungement attorney, FOR FREE!

Despite the COVID-19 pandemic the Coalition successfully hosted more events for National Expungement Week 2020.

Check out our Expungement 101 webinar, here!

Check out our Virtual Wraparound Reentry Resource Fair, here!

If you are in need of expungement support, please reach out to the Coalition CannabisEquityIL@gmail.com.