66,000 marijuana convictions were just dismissed in Los Angeles County

This week, 66,000 marijuana convictions in Los Angeles County — some dating back to 1961 — were dismissed.

Los Angeles County District Attorney Jackie Lacey announced on Thursday that she filed a motion asking a Superior Court judge to erase 62,000 felony and 4,000 misdemeanor convictions, and the order was signed on Tuesday.

With this move, 22,000 people no longer have felonies on their record in California, while 15,000 now don’t have a criminal record at all, the Los Angeles Times reports. This affects 53,000 people — 45 percent are Latino, 32 percent are black, and 20 percent are white. «What this does is correct that inequality of the past,» Lacey told the Times. «It gives them a start, a new start.»

In 2016, California voters passed Proposition 64, which legalized possession and the purchase of up to an ounce of marijuana, plus lets people grow up to six plants for personal consumption.