News & Commentary

Yesterday, sponsors and advocates of Senate Bill 43, the Second Chance Bill, announced the removal of the bill from consideration in the New Mexico House of Representatives during the 2022 legislative session. SB 43 would have abolished juvenile life without parole in New Mexico and created early eligibility for parole for those serving long adult sentences for crimes committed as children. The bill would’ve brought New Mexico in line with recent U.S. Supreme Court decisions and with a growing number of states that have already passed similar legislation. 

There have been 242 new COVID-19 cases at the Otero County Processing Center so far this year.

Among the slew of public safety bills New Mexico legislators are debating this session are HB 5 and SB 189, which would impose new pretrial release conditions and roll back voter-approved bail reforms in the state.

The Fines, Fees and Cost Payment Flexibility Bill (HB81), seeks to change how court fees are assessed and repaid so people working to rebuild their lives aren’t burdened with crushing debt or re-incarcerated simply because they can’t immediately afford their fees. Those fees, which are often used to fund government agencies, do nothing to improve public safety and often fall hardest on overpoliced Black and Brown communities already struggling with systemic racism and fewer job opportunities, resulting in lower incomes.

The fight for voting rights remains as critical as ever. Politicians across the country continue to engage in voter suppression, efforts that include additional obstacles to registration, cutbacks on early voting, and burdensome voter identification requirements. But in New Mexico we have a chance to turn the tide to expand and protect voting rights for all of us in passing the New Mexico Voting Rights Act. 

ACLU of New Mexico Staff Attorney Denali Wilson talks about the need for the Second Chance Bill in New Mexico.

The checkpoints could hinder the participation of businesses in Southern New Mexico in the state's legal cannabis industry.

Ahead of the 2022 legislative session, Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham and allied lawmakers are calling for legislation that would make it even easier to detain people accused of certain felony crimes before their trials, citing public safety concerns. The legislation they propose flies in the face of the core American principle of “innocent until proven guilty” by creating a presumption against release for people accused of certain crimes.

Over half of U.S. states have either passed laws abolishing juvenile life without parole and creating second chance opportunities or they have never imposed such a sentence on children. New Mexico can look to the experiences that these other states have had with legislation like the Second Chance Bill to see that this type of legislation works. This legislative session, it is time for New Mexico to align with the rest of the country and pass the Second Chance Bill into law.