Criminal Justice & Public Safety

Bill to end life without parole as a sentencing option heads to Guv’s desk

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A bill to eliminate life in prison without the possibility of parole for juveniles sentenced as adults passed the House in the early hours of Sunday morning by a 37-25 vote. State Sen. Antoinette Sedillo Lopez, D-Albuquerque, sponsored SB 64. House Majority Leader Gail Chasey, D-Albuquerque, a cosponsor, presented the bill to the House. The bill would, if enacted, retroactively impact 70 adults out of a prison population of about 7,000 individuals in New Mexico and it will end the possibility of a child sentenced as an adult of being given the sentence of life without the chance of parole. It would not automatically grant parole.

NM Legislature

Senate committee tables governor-backed bill altering pretrial detention system

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The Santa Fe New Mexican

The Senate Health and Public Affairs Committee tabled a bill Wednesday that sought to keep defendants charged with certain violent crimes, including first-degree murder, behind bars without bond while they await trial. The committee voted 4-3 to table Senate Bill 123 amid concerns it is unconstitutional. The action likely means the measure won’t move forward during the session. A fiscal impact report on the bill stated “litigation regarding its constitutionality should be expected” if it were enacted as proposed. The report also estimated the measure could cost the state up to $15.3 million a year.

2022 Legislative Session

Guv signs omnibus crime bill 

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Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham signed an  omnibus crime bill into law on Wednesday, which officials say will reduce crime. Lujan Grisham, a Democrat seeking reelection in November, pushed a “tough on crime” agenda during the 2022 Legislative session. Lawmakers rolled several crime bills into one to create the omnibus bill, which increases penalties for violent offenders. State House Rep. Meredith Dixon, D-Santa Fe, sponsored HB 68. The new law will also eliminate “gay panic” defense in criminal cases.

2022 Legislative Session

Omnibus crime bill heads to governor’s desk

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Midway through Rep. Meredith Dixon’s introduction to an omnibus crime bill put together by the Senate, Speaker of the House Brian Egolf, D-Santa Fe, stopped her. At 4 a.m., he explained, the server for the legislative webcasts resets every morning and they would stand in place while that took place. Dixon, an Albuquerque Democrat, continued her explanation of the new portions of the HB 68 after the brief interruption, speaking for another ten minutes. This was just a short portion of the three hours of conversation. In all, the new version of the bill included 54 sections, a massive change from the five-section bill that left the House earlier in the legislative session.

Debbie Armstrong

Bill to lower insurance premiums for some heads to Senate

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A bill that backers have said would lower insurance premiums and provide subsidies to help individuals and small businesses with health care cost passed the House 43 to 25 Monday. HB 122, sponsored by House Rep. Debbie Armstrong, D-Albuquerque, will place a surtax on insurance companies if it passes. The tax would begin in January 2022 but the benefit would begin in January 2023, Armstrong said. The tax would create a health care affordability fund to reduce health care premiums for New Mexico residents who receive insurance through the New Mexico Health Care Exchange. 

Armstrong said it would also help small businesses that offer health insurance because an employee with a high-cost health problem, such as cancer, could raise the premiums for the rest of the  employees. But the state would be able to offer a program to small businesses that would cover the high cost of that one employee.