2 MIN TO HELP by 7/18! SUPPORT for Crime Bills for Special Session

by Sarah Smith

Dear New Mexicans,

Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham is calling the legislature into Special Session on July 18th to focus specifically on crime bills. Although we haven’t agreed with most of what the Governor has done, this is one time when we are alignment, as the Bills she is proposing (described below) have the potential to help our situation with repeat offenders and high crime.

Will you please give 2 minutes to send an email to all NM legislators to urge them to collaborate to make the special session a success?

GO HERE to easily email the legislators: https://oneclickpolitics.global.ssl.fastly.net/messages/edit?promo_id=22939

NOTE: Your email will be even more effective if you CHANGE THE SUBJECT LINE so it will stand out in the legislators’ email inboxes.

ABOUT THE CRIME BILLS

Here is a summary of some of the crime Bills being proposed by the Governor.

COMPETENCY BILL – This bill requires judges to order district attorneys to consider filing for involuntary commitment of criminal defendants if their competency is in question and gives the judge the ability to detain the defendant for up to seven days to initiate the petition. The judge would be required to hold the defendant for up to seven days and the DA is required to file a petition for involuntary civil commitment under at least one of the following three circumstances:

Serious violent offense
A felony involving the use of a firearm
Defendant has been found incompetent two or more times in the previous 12 months

INVOLUNTARY COMMITMENT – This bill would broaden the definitions of danger to self and danger to others in the involuntary commitment statue.

FELON IN POSSESSION – This bill would upgrade the regular felon in possession of a firearm in the commission of a crime law from a third degree to a second-degree felony. It would also establish a new mandatory minimum term of nine years imprisonment for this offense. (Current law provides for “up to” a three-year for regular offenders). The bill would also change the serious violent felon in possession sentence from third to second degree felony with mandatory 12-year prison sentence. (Current law provides for an up to nine-year term).

MEDIAN/PEDESTRIAN SAFETY – This bill would make it illegal to loiter on a median 36 inches or narrower in areas where the speed limit is 30 mph or more.

There is more info about the Bills here: