Source: Austin Fisher, Source NM
New Mexico has been a leader in harm reduction policies for decades, which aim to treat substance abuse disorders without imprisoning people. The legislature passed two different, but related, proposals to enhance those protections. However the governor vetoed them. Michelle Lujan Grisham (D).
Lujan Grisham vetoed last week two bills that would have changed the way New Mexico sentences people who are found in possession of drugs. This could have saved millions on jail time, which state public defenders, civil rights attorneys and others say should be spent on harm reduction and treatment.
Emily Kaltenbach, Senior Director of Criminal Legal and Policing Reform at the Drug Policy Alliance. The Drug Policy Alliance works to decriminalize all drug possession. She is disappointed by the governor’s decision and worried about the negative impact that the criminal justice system continues to have on those struggling with drug addiction.
Kaltenbach stated that “our criminal system shouldn’t be the gatekeeper for treatment.” Both of these pieces were legislation that treated addiction as a medical issue, not a crime.
Nayomi Vadez, the director of public policy at the American Civil Liberties Union of New Mexico said that the bills would have helped to reduce the number of people who are incarcerated for minor technical infractions and failed drug tests. They could also help thousands of people get their lives on track.
Bennett Baur is the chief public defender of the Law Offices of the Public Defender. He said that the argument the Governor adopted by vetoing the bill was that the state needed the threat of prison or actual imprisonment in order to induce treatment.
Baur: “I don’t think people understand the true impact of imprisonment. “Imprisonment isn’t neutral. “Putting people into and out of prison or jail actually causes damage.”
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Enhancements to sentences
Senate Bill prohibited courts from counting a drug possession or DWI charge in another jurisdiction as part of a sentence for someone who is a “habitual criminal.”
Baur stated that drug possession in New Mexico is a crime, and the bill wouldn’t have changed this. The bill would have removed the power of prosecutors to add more prison years on top existing sentences, Baur said.
Baur stated that “nearly no one gets better due to the threat of an additional prison.”
Lujan Grisham said in her veto that prosecutors used the habitual offenders enhancement to encourage defendants seeking treatment for addiction.
Quentin Ray of the Ninth Judicial district attorney, as well as the entire State Prosecutors Association, were against the bill. Ray said that the bill’s enhancement would allow people to “hit rock bottom” while in prison.
He said: “It allows us to use it as a hammer to force people to change.” “You need something that says ‘If you don’t want to change, then we’ll have to remove you from society.’
Kim Chavez Cook, appellate public defense attorney and legislative expert for public defenders, says that it can be used as a bargaining chip. She said that prosecutors sometimes tell defendants that if they do not violate probation then the habitual offenders enhancement will be avoided.
By removing this tool, Lujan Grisham warned that we could lose an important incentive to help defendants.
Kaltenbach stated that prisons and jails do not have no drugs. There are just as many drugs within the criminal justice system as outside.
Violations of probation and parole
Senate Bill 8 would’ve revised the state probation and parole system, and tied punishments to severity of the offense–rather that the crime which originally sent them to jail.
Chavez-Cook explained that if a person on probation commits an infraction, such as a positive drug test result, the courts can order them to serve their entire sentence in prison. This is often decided by judges.
The bill proposes a statewide implementation of these sanctions, but they are already being implemented locally in Santa Fe and Albuquerque in the southeast of the state and in Catron and Torrance counties in Sierra, Socorro and Catron Counties.
Each of these judicial districts has opted in to its own voluntary technical violations program where probation and parole officers are able to impose graduated sanctions prior to reporting someone to local prosecutors or the parole board.
Chavez-Cook explained that even if the client does not sign up, nothing prevents a state prison system, a probation officer, or a future secretary of Corrections Department from sending someone to prison for a minor technical infraction.
Valdez stated that locking up people for minor technical violations or failed drug tests doesn’t make us safer, nor does it help those people locked up. Those who cannot make appointments, or who struggle with substance abuse disorder, need help and treatment.
Valdez stated that the millions of dollars spent on incarcerating these people could have been invested to address the root causes of crime, substance abuse disorders and behavioral issues. “Imprisoning people without cause only makes them and their families worse and does not make us any safer,” Valdez said.
Lujan Grisham said the bill “failed” to receive the support of district attorneys and other stakeholders and “ignores the practicalities which could further harm both parolees as well as our communities.”
She wrote: “This could be an important step backwards.”
In the veto message she sent, Lujan-Grisham defended the record of her administration on substance abuse disorder treatment in the last four years. “Individualized supervisor methods have led improved measures on recidivism as well as participation in treatment and special courts,” wrote Lujan-Grisham.
Baur says that specialty courts can be extremely helpful for certain clients. However, most only intervene once someone has been convicted.
He said that we should focus on diversion and remove someone from the criminal justice system as soon as possible. I don’t think it is realistic to say that building specialty courts will solve the problem.
Chavez-Cook stated that just because we’ve made progress doesn’t mean the rest of the pieces aren’t needed.
Kaltenbach said that recovery is not linear and that people shouldn’t punished for relapsing. She said that punishment doesn’t alter behavior.
She said, “Evidence has shown that criminalization doesn’t reduce recidivism or long-term drug abuse.” “I wonder why this state has such a regressive outlook when it’s done so much great work.”
Source NM was the first to publish this story.
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