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Relief for those with minor marijuana convictions in New Jersey could be inching closer, as the state Senate is scheduled to vote Thursday on changes Gov. Phil Murphy made a bill that would allow people to have their records expunged.

But it’s not clear if the Senate is ready to concur with the governor’s proposals.

“We’re not there right now, to be honest,” Senate President Stephen Sweeney, D-Gloucester, told NJ Advance Media. “We think we did a good job with the bill. Unfortunately, he made the changes to it. Expungement’s important, but we thought the original bill was a good bill.”

In late August, Murphy conditionally vetoed the bill seeking to revamp the state’s outdated and cumbersome process after both houses of the legislature voted to pass it in June.

Talks about the cannabis industry and legalization have revolved around social justice and equity from the beginning, with politicians and advocates calling for a remedy for those whose records are tainted by minor marijuana charges.

But after lawmakers did not pass legislation that would either legalize or decriminalize marijuana, the governor’s office opted to use expungement as a vehicle to provide relief for those convicted of low-level marijuana offenses by moving the current system forward and into automation, as New Jersey Cannabis Insider reported last week.

Police have arrested nearly 1 million people in New Jersey on marijuana charges since 1990, according to the state judiciary, making the state’s marijuana arrest rate one of the highest in the nation. New Jersey also has one of the most burdensome expungement processes in the country, as reported earlier this year by NJ Advance Media.

And while expungement remains far from the end solution, some see Murphy’s conditional veto as landmark step that would put New Jersey at the nation’s forefront of expungement law.

The ACLU, Latino Action Network and NAACP applauded the governor’s recommendations, as did Charlana McKeithen, executive director of Garden State NORML.

“I’m actually glad that Gov. Murphy took the time to reconsider auto-expungement,” she said. “It’s a quicker process with less burden on the people whose lives have been irrevocably altered by the criminalization of marijuana.”

Murphy said Tuesday he hopes the legislature concurs with his veto and that talks with lawmakers have been “constructive.”

“I believe the changes we made are meaningful and have strengthened this,” the Democratic governor said during an unrelated event in Morristown. “I’m hopeful and optimistic.”

State Sen. Sandra Cunningham, D-Hudson, who sponsored the bill, said late last month the veto was “disappointing” and could reduce the number of people eligible for expungement.

Murphy’s conditional veto calls for an electronic filing system to streamline processing of expungements as well as sealing charges related to small amounts of marijuana, hashish and paraphernalia possession. It also calls for $15 million to expand the workforce needed to process expungement petitions before the automated system is ready.

The automation piece is the “gold standard” of expungement law, administration officials said. Only two other states, Pennsylvania and Utah, have similar practices in place.

Some had worried that the legislature’s expungement bill would overburden the already troubled system. If the state Judiciary were to suddenly receive a mass influx of expungement applications, it would have no clear way to process them on top of the 10,000 it currently clears annually.

“New Jersey needs to figure out how all the databases and institutions can talk to one another,” said Amol Sinha, executive director for the ACLU of New Jersey. He supported the governor’s proposals. “A task force is necessary to make sure we can get there and all the right voices are at the table. I hope this task force will help New Jersey catch up to the 21st century.”

But even if the legislature passes the bill with the governor’s changes, police can continue to arrest people for marijuana crimes.

Murphy promised to clear past marijuana convictions as part of the drive to legalize adult use of marijuana, but that legislation stalled earlier this year.

Some, Murphy included, saw a separate expungement bill as problematic without legalization: Clearing past marijuana convictions before the legislature can pass a law legalizing adult use of the drug adds confusion to the process, and does not stop new arrests.

McKeithen stressed that officials should prioritize putting an end to those arrests, which result in time-consuming and costly court appearances ⁠— even with the relief of expungement.

“We can always say it’s worth waiting longer because it’s not our lives,” McKeithen said. “Is an automatic process the best way to go? Yes, but we can’t keep dragging our feet. We need to get this done.”

NJ Advance Media staff writer Brent Johnson contributed to this report.

Amanda Hoover can be reached at ahoover@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @amandahoovernj. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

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