News & Commentary

We challenge the Lujan Grisham administration and all policymakers to rise to the occasion and commit to equal if not greater investments in meaningful, evidence-based diversion and treatment programs that allow for education, rehabilitation, housing, and economic dignity to be achieved.

The most recent elections have made clear that New Mexicans are ready to move forward with a more progressive agenda rooted in justice, equity, and liberty. Here are more details on our 2023 legislative priorities.

Fees in the justice system trap far too many people in a vicious cycle of debt and punishment. A burgeoning movement in states across the country is tackling this problem head-on.

While the decision in Vega v. Tekoh doesn’t reduce the obligation of police to issue Miranda warnings, it eliminates a critical avenue for justice.

Clifton White spent years in and out of prisons, eventually becoming a “jailhouse lawyer,” husband, father and finally community leader, whose activism would once again land him behind bars.

Legislators fail to engage evidence-based solutions that would make the state safer for everyone.

We must not return to the failed, punitive policies that do not improve public safety or save lives.

Four out of five criminal defendants can’t afford a lawyer, but in many places, the system promised to them by our state and federal constitutions is chronically in crisis.

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.