Mammoth-Mud-9609 t1_ja01kgo wrote
There is something called retrospective legislation which not only changes current law but also changes how the law is applied in the past, most governments avoid retrospective legislation because of issues like this in general if you broke the law you still knowingly committed a criminal act and have to face the consequences of doing so.
oblarneymcdoodle t1_ja09lek wrote
Washington state recently did this (Blake). Retroactively making weed convictions and everything associated with them (LFOs, points etc.) unconstitutional. Legislature is currently working on a bill to lay out how to reimburse everyone affected. (I may have over simplified some of this but basics are correct.)
abeorch t1_ja0chji wrote
Im not familiar with the case but generally in constitutional states if a law is ruled as unconstitutional then it is treated as if the law never existed (since it has been found to be invalid) therefore all convictions based on it are considered invalid. This is different to a law being repealed (which the original post refers to)
SoNic67 t1_ja2iptl wrote
Free money for former pot dealers. What could go wrong?
nerdsonarope t1_ja1u1y9 wrote
Another scenario is that the action becomes no longer illegal because a court rules that the criminal law was unconstitutional. In that scenario, a person previously convicted under the now invalid law may be able to apply to the court to be released. However, whether they will succeed is fact dependent and too complicated for an ELI5.
Captain-Griffen t1_ja2sc0a wrote
It doesn't become legal, legally speaking, but it is found to have always been legal.
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