Page 24 - Sonoma County Gazette July 2020

The Supreme Court DACA Decision: What Does It Mean for DACA holders
and potentially for DAPA?
AB 1793 Identifies those eligible for relief
In 2018 the California Legislature passed AB 1793 which required the California Department of Justice to review state criminal history information, identify those eligible for relief under Proposition 64 to the courts, and the courts to automatically reduce or dismiss eligible convictions by July 1, 2020.
Using the Clear My Record software, the District Attorney’s Office identified 2,110 individuals eligible for Proposition 64 relief. Of those, 427 had misdemeanor convictions eligible for complete dismissal, and 1713 had felony convictions eligible for reduction to misdemeanors.
However, District Attorney Ravitch chose to offer further relief not required by the statute. Namely, the actual dismissal, and not just reduction, of the 1713 felony convictions identified by her office.
Who can apply for DACA now?
CLEAR MY RECORD PORTAL: To find out if your record has been cleared, contact the Law Offices of the Sonoma County Public Defender or the Sonoma County Superior Court: Monday – Friday, 8:00 AM – 5:00 PM
For now, persons who already have DACA can continue filing renewals. It is recommended that applicants do so at least 150 days before their DACA
Sonoma County Public Defender’s Office, 600 Administration Drive, First Floor - Room 111, Santa Rosa, CA 95403
WEBSITE: http://sonomacounty.ca.gov/Public-Defender/ EMAIL: expungements@sonoma-county.org
Unfortunately, new applicants are still not open to apply yet. However, the lower court or DHS itself could interpret the decision to require them to reopen the program to new applicants.
PHONE: (707) 565-2791
Juvenile Unit: (707) 565-6304
On September 5, 2017, Donald Trump announced the rescission of the DACA program. Those who have DACA status were to begin to lose their status on March 5, 2018, but a San Francisco District Court judge ordered the government to continue renewals. While that case was pending, two other federal judges issued similar injunctions against Trump.
For information regarding expungements please contact us and include your full name and contact information.
Expungements: expungements@sonoma-county.org
IMMIGRANT cont’d on page 23
On July 18th, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of the DACA recipients and against the Trump Administration. In short, it means immigrants with DACA can continue to renew their status and their work permits,and maintain their reprieve from deportation.
Sonoma County District Attorney Jill Ravitch announced that 2,735
Sonoma County marijuana convictions will be dismissed as part of a program initiated by her office with the assistance of the “Clear My Record” application, a state-wide software application that allows District Attorneys to securely and accurately evaluate eligibility for Proposition 64 relief by reading and interpreting criminal history data from the CA Department of Justice.
The Decision: The Supreme Court’s decision was 5-4, finding the Trump Administration’s termination of DACA “arbitrary and capricious”. While this is not a final decision, it affirms the lower courts’ injunction requiring the administration to keep the program open for renewals. To read the decision: https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/19pdf/18-587_5ifl.pdf
Proposition 64, which was passed into law by ballot initiative in 2016, amended provisions of the California Health and Safety Code to change
how the State categorized cannabis crimes. With the passage of Proposition
64 some conduct that had previously been categorized as felonious was re- designated misdemeanor conduct, while conduct that had previously been characterized as misdemeanor conduct was re-designated as either punishable as an infraction or no longer illegal.
“We do not decide whether DACA or its rescission are sound policies,” the chief justice wrote. “We address only whether the agency complied with the procedural requirement that it provide a reasoned explanation for its action.” reads the opinion.
And the decision might have even larger consequences for DAPA, the Obama Administration program that would have given 5 million immigrants with children born here a similar status, but was shut down by a lower court in 2015.
Proposition 64 additionally gave those with prior cannabis convictions the right to petition courts to re-classify their convictions to conform to the severity of the offense post-Proposition 64, or to have their convictions dismissed if the underlying conduct is no longer considered a crime.
The legal battle over DACA continues.
24 - www.sonomacountygazette.com - 7/20