The DOJ is working on a solution to expedite record expungement per President Biden’s order
It appeared that no action was being taken related to the massive pardon that had been ordered by President Joe Biden a few weeks ago in an effort to bring certain reforms to marijuana-related issues. However, statements recently shared by Elizabeth Oyer, a federal pardon attorney, indicate otherwise. Now, the Department of Justice (DOJ) will make it easier for individuals to obtain presidential pardon certificates for cannabis through a process that could take as little as ten minutes to complete.
The official also weighed in on the fact that the massive POTUS pardon excluded immigrants with citizenship status problems. Oyer made it clear that they may be eligible for this relief as long as they apply through the traditional, individualized clemency process.
For Oyer, Biden’s recent pardon for approximately 6500 Americans was “self-effective,” implying that they were officially pardoned at the time the proclamation was signed in early October. Still, the move gave the DOJ a directive to more clearly monitor and track pardons through a certification process. Oyer did not clarify at this time when the application sale will open, but said it will be soon and that he expects most people will take no more than ten minutes to complete it.
“We are hoping that we can expedite the process for applicants and for our review by using a web-based platform, so we are working very closely with the Department of Justice’s IT department to develop and launch a web-based submission platform so that individuals can simply fill in their information online, click a button, submit the application and it’s done,” Oyer said. “That will also put the information into a format that makes it easier for us to quickly review and process these applications for certificates.”