WHEW. The 2024 legislative session is in the books with historic wins, a few losses, and some fertile terrain for change. There were long days, late nights, moments of sheer panic, and (thankfully) a lot of bright spots that give me hope for the future of our wonderful state. 

As anyone who has taken part in a 30-day session will tell you, a month’s time is a very short period to get bills across the finish line. Not only are the month-long sessions (which take place every other year) short, they are also focused narrowly on budgetary issues and those issues the governor chooses to put on her call. We work within those limits to advance bills that will make our state a more just, free, and safe place to live and raise families, and to fight back against bills that harm our communities.

We are deeply opposed to bills that we know will only tear families apart and further entrench our communities in cycles of addiction, poverty, and violence. 

Heading into session, Gov. Lujan Grisham made it clear that her priorities would be focused on public safety, both by “giving a message” to bills that invest in preventative measures and by pushing for “tough on crime” bills. We are in full support of investing in solutions that prevent crime. But we are deeply opposed to bills that we know will only tear families apart and further entrench our communities in cycles of addiction, poverty, and violence. 

Candidly, we are all a bit exhausted from fighting the same, failed punitive policies year after year that collectively amount to a massive waste of taxpayer dollars and are a dead end to public safety. But until lawmakers stop introducing these bills, we’ll be there to fight them. 

So, we jumped in full steam ahead, kicking off the session with a joint press conference with partners working on the front lines of these issues. We called on lawmakers to continue their investments in tackling the root causes of crime and to resist passing punitive policies. We carried that momentum forward throughout the session, testifying in committee meetings, meeting with legislators, and speaking to reporters about the harmful effects of stiffer penalties. We also rallied inside the Roundhouse with community partners and the people who have felt the impact of these bills firsthand during End Mass Incarceration Day of Action and Youth Action Day.

I am encouraged by the number of people who showed up at the Roundhouse to make their voices heard — and by the legislators who listened. Lawmakers ultimately voted against two unconstitutional bills that would have made it easier for prosecutors to hold people accused of certain crimes in jail pre-trial, proposals that would have added new crimes to the criminal code, and legislation that would have further criminalized homeless people and those who choose to help them.

These are the kinds of investments that tackle the root causes of crime and will actually advance community safety.

At the same time that lawmakers rejected failed policy solutions, they also voted to pass a historic budget that prioritizes the single greatest one-time investment our state has ever made in housing, along with enormous investments in behavioral health, education, job creation, and skills development for our workforce. These are the kinds of investments that tackle the root causes of crime and will actually advance community safety.

We and our partners also advocated for a bill to ensure incarcerated people have access to free menstrual products – a critical necessity for people who are often forced to use inadequate substitutes that expose them to health risks, including infertility, due to shortages. Those efforts paid off when lawmakers appropriated $250,000 for the distribution of menstrual products to incarcerated people for fiscal year 2025. Next year, we’ll work to ensure lawmakers pass legislation enshrining policy protections in the law.

In addition to these wins, we also encountered some setbacks and disappointments.  We pushed for bills that ultimately didn’t make it across the finish line, including legislation that would have ensured up to 12 weeks of paid leave for people in need of time off to care for their own health needs and the health of their families; limited law enforcement’s use of mass surveillance technology; and ended the complicity of New Mexico counties in the inhumane practice of detaining people who are seeking asylum.

Though these bills didn’t pass, we’re not giving up hope. We, along with our community allies and supporters like you, had fruitful conversations with lawmakers across the political spectrum on these bills and many others. We know from past experience that sometimes it takes multiple sessions to pass the bills we believe in. We are resilient – and you can rest assured that we’ll continue this hard work in the interim session and be back at the 60-day session in 2025 to continue advocating for a more just, fair, and equitable New Mexico. 

Adam Griego is a master mechanic, member of the Justice Advisory and Accountability Board of the ACLU of New Mexico, and a member of OLÉ. This blog is taken from his speech at End Mass Incarceration Day at the Roundhouse during the 2024 Legislative Session.    

Good morning, everyone. I would like to welcome you to our day of action to end mass incarceration.  

There is no research to support the idea that mass incarceration makes our communities any safer.

A little bit about myself and my lived experience. I first entered the confines of what is known as the Hotel, Downtown El Paso, a detention facility built up like a large hotel, on June 29, 2018. Making my way through the facility, I was moved into a secured room. It was standing room only that was so packed, I fell asleep standing up, never to once to fall or collapse. Slowly, we were worked into a processing area one by one. Finally, I was interviewed by an intake coordinator who asked me a very detailed set of questions about myself. Then I was off to a holding cell so overcrowded I had to squeeze between men on the floor. Bodies were like sardines in every direction, packed so tightly, you couldn’t move. 

Photo Below: Adam Griego and his Grandson.

The picture I am painting depicts conditions and rampant overcrowding in facilities across this nation. Today, January 30, is just four days shy of the largest prison riot to ever occur and it happened right here in Santa Fe, NM. Some that lost their lives should not have been in the penitentiary due to their crimes. The final analysis of the root causes of the riot were prison overcrowding, inferior prison services, violence against inmates from officers, and official corruption. Most of these same conditions are present to this day in many if not all correctional institutions. Rampant under staffing, poor training of staff, and substandard conditions are common in most prisons. Personally, I was subjected to involuntary solitude and enslavement. 

Punitive consequences and sanctions serve no value in the rehabilitation of a human being.

The loss to our loved ones on the outside is unconscionable. Oftentimes they have no idea where we are or what facility we are housed in. There is no response from staff when you call the facilities. My 17-year-old daughter who was seven months pregnant had no idea where I was for weeks after seeing me whisked away in from a federal court room in El Paso. The financial burden placed on the family unit is ridiculous. After losing the primary source of income for the household at the drop of a hat, they are forced to fend for themselves.  

We must focus efforts on reform, not creating more laws that hurt our families and communities.

There is no research to support the idea that mass incarceration makes our communities any safer. On the contrary, it is destroying families, our society, and has dire economic consequences. As a nation, we have five percent of the entire world population but a staggering nearly 25% of the world's incarcerated population. The racial disparities of those incarcerated are also indicative of a largely biased society.  Punitive consequences and sanctions serve no value in the rehabilitation of a human being. We must begin to become a generation of healers focused on the core values of a stronger, more interwoven, and inclusive society. We must focus efforts on reform, not creating more laws that hurt our families and communities. 

We must seek solutions. In the words of the law professor Andrea Armstrong, transparency and accountability are critical tools for safeguarding our collective humanity. Thank you for your time.