Sara Rodriguez, who filed a class action suit July 13 alleging California has continually discriminated against Inland Empire residents by funding the region’s courts with less resources than other counties, gave a press conference with her McCune Wright Arevalo attorney Joe Richardson Aug. 22.
Rodriguez, a Los Angeles County resident, still has a felony marijuana conviction on her record that San Bernardino Superior Court has not cleared – despite a state law, AB 1793, which told courts to clear marijuana convictions after the drug was decriminalized.
Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office declined to comment on the litigation through a spokesperson. San Bernardino Superior Court has not yet responded to a call for comment.
Inland Empire cases
San Bernardino County still has 10,892 marijuana cases to review and clear, and Riverside County has 8,270.
“Surely, almost everyone can agree that something that is not even illegal anymore should not be an impediment for a person to have a job, to have a place to live, or have to succumb to the over 44,000 legal barriers that affect those with conviction histories,” Rodriguez said.
While most county courts, including Los Angeles, Orange and San Francisco, have cleared felony marijuana convictions, San Bernardino Superior Court has not processed any.
“A larger problem”
Richardson argues that’s because the state has continually underfunded the courts.
“We’re talking about AB 1793 as endemic of a larger problem, and that larger problem does not go away if Sara, as a woman of color who needs services in San Bernardino County, if her convictions, and others’ convictions, are finally expunged two years after they should have been. That’s not going to solve the problem,” Richardson said during the press conference.
“AB 1793 serves as both a necessary step in the right direction, which we commend, but also a clear reminder of the problem that we have with the funding of San Bernardino and Riverside county courts, and how it affects people of color.”
The state gave each court $77.20 for each conviction that could be expunged.
Richardson, and his client’s complaint, argue that was not enough money to get San Bernardino Superior Court out of the backlog caused by decades of inadequate funding. Richardson praised the courts for their performance with their current funding, but said the funding was not nearly enough.
Prison record
Rodriguez spent two years in state prison, followed by another six in probation or parole, after she was convicted of possession to sell marijuana nearly 20 years ago.
Since her conviction, she received a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Cal Poly Pomona, and a master’s degree in social welfare from UCLA in 2021. She works as a post conviction social worker for the Los Angeles County Bar Association.
She’s lived with a felony conviction on her record for almost two decades, and her career path was dictated by the conviction’s limitations.
She said she had believed her conviction would have already been expunged shortly after AB 1793 because she lived in Los Angeles County. In October, she found out her conviction was still standing, and that she would have to contact San Bernardino Superior Court to gain her criminal record for her job application with the Los Angeles County Bar Association.
Cost
After driving to three court offices in San Bernardino County, and paying nearly $100, she gained the documents to explain her criminal history for her job. She asked the San Bernardino Public Defender’s Office to clear her whole history, but will have to wait at least six months, and pay about $50 for record clearing, Rodriguez said.
“I thought about everyone else who is eligible for (marijuana conviction relief), but may not be familiar with the process,” said Rodriguez at the press conference. “So, it may feel overwhelming and burdensome for them, both timewise and financially. I also felt, ‘Why should I have to wait an additional six to eight months for relief, and pay money, to do something that by law is something that should be initiated by the courts?’”
Case information
Richard McCune, Joseph Richardson and Sandy Gonzalez of Ontario’s McCune Wright Arevalo represent Rodriguez.
Counsel for the state has not yet been announced.
San Bernardino Superior Judge David Cohn is assigned to the case.
Case number CIVSB2213905.
Read the complaint here.
Read Follow Our Court’s prior coverage here.
