The New Mexico legislature is just one of the ways that we advance civil liberties in our state. We aim to support bills that strengthen our rights guaranteed under the Constitution and defeat bills that threaten them. See below for our legislative priorities.

During the 2017 legislative session, we want to:

Protect your digital privacy. The Electronic Communications Privacy Act (ECPA) will require law enforcement to get a warrant before they can access your digital information.  SB 61 will provide protections for New Mexicans’ email, cell phone, and other electronic communications. Last year the Albuquerque Journal wrote an editorial in support of passing the ECPA. 

  • SB 61, the Electronic Communications Protection Act is sponsored by Sen. Peter Wirth (D-Santa Fe) and Rep. Jim Dines (R-Bernalillo). Read the bill here.

Reform solitary confinement. We want to drastically reduce the use of solitary confinement in New Mexico jails and prisons. The Isolated Confinement Act start with common sense reforms by banning the use of solitary confinement on vulnerable populations, including children, pregnant prisoners, and prisoners diagnosed with serious mental illnesses. 

Protect and expand access to reproductive healthcare & support pregnant workers. Working with several partners, we will support legislation that will expand access to contraception in our rural state and protect contraception coverage protections granted by the Affordable Care Act. We’ll also be supporting the Pregnant Worker Accommodation Act, which will ensure pregnant women get the accommodations they need to continue working and supporting their families.

Make sure hospitals put patients first. Patients in need of urgent or critical reproductive healthcare should not be forced to suffer because of a hospital’s religious affiliation or discriminatory policies. It is doctors and patients who should be making medical decisions based on the health needs and wishes of the patient. SB 282, called Put Patients First Act, will ensure that medical providers serving patients at New Mexico hospitals are able to provide care that meets medical standards of care, regardless of the hospital’s religious affiliation.

Pursue medical aid in dying. The End of Life Options Act would make it possible for terminally ill New Mexicans who have a prognosis of six months or less to live to choose the self-ingested medication that will bring about a peaceful death. 

Protect civil asset forfeiture. In 2015, New Mexico became a national leader in reforming the use of civil asset forfeiture, or “policing for profit.”  We may see legislation that would attempt to amend the reform efforts that limited the ability of law enforcement to take your property without a criminal conviction. 

Defeat “Tough-on-crime” legislation that doesn’t make New Mexico safer. As part of the NM SAFE coalition, the ACLU-NM will work to defeat increased criminal sentencing in New Mexico. We know that increasing penalties for crimes doesn’t deter criminals and doesn’t make New Mexicans safer. Increased sentencing is expensive and studies show that it is ineffective at reducing crime. We’ll work to defeat the attempts to bring back the death penalty, increase the Three-strikes bill, and attempts to introduce a teen curfew.

Support fiscal responsibility for increased criminal sentencing. Working with Sen. Joseph Cervantes (D-Dona Ana), we support a measure that requires any bill increasing criminal penalties to have a fiscal impact statement attached to it to ensure we are spending New Mexico's limited financial resources in a smart and responsible way.

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