News & Commentary
A New Phase in Civil Liberties Advocacy: Where We’ve Been and Where We’re Going
For decades, the ACLU of New Mexico has worked alongside communities to defend civil liberties and expand the promise of the constitution. Today, with fundamental freedoms under intensifying attack and the stakes for our democracy higher than ever, that work has never been more urgent.
Latest Press Release
Apr 22, 2022
We Deserve Better Than Outdated Posturing About Crime
Legislators fail to engage evidence-based solutions that would make the state safer for everyone.
By Barron Jones, Denali Wilson
Mar 11, 2022
The War on Drugs Failed — Lawmakers Must Meet the Fentanyl Crisis With New Solutions
We must not return to the failed, punitive policies that do not improve public safety or save lives.
By ACLU National
Mar 08, 2022
If You Care About Freedom, You Should Be Asking Why We Don’t Fund Our Public Defender Systems
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.
By ACLU National
Feb 08, 2022
Four things you need to know about the pretrial detention bill
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.
By ACLU-NM
Feb 04, 2022
Questions and Answers About The Fines, Fees and Cost Payment Flexibility Bill
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.
By Leonardo Castañeda
Feb 01, 2022
Second Chance Bill: What it does, why it’s important, and how you can help
ACLU of New Mexico Staff Attorney Denali Wilson talks about the need for the Second Chance Bill in New Mexico.
Jan 11, 2022
Base Pretrial Detention on Facts, Not Fear
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.
By Nayomi Valdez
Jan 10, 2022
Why this former prosecutor supports the second chance bill
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.
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