This was supposed to be the year that we the citizens of New Mexico would see some real movement with the crime bills that would be presented.  Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham went around this state and held town hall meetings to hear what it is we need to happen to curb the crime that is happening all around us. Our families showed up to the town hall meeting held here in Albuquerque. We voiced our concerns and we thought they were listening. Some of the legislators also held small town hall forums to hear from the constituents of what they wanted to see happen this year. Once again it all fell on deaf ears.

HB 134, this bill was sponsored by two democrats and two republicans. Finally a bill that was bipartisan, this bill was to address the problems with the juvenile justice code and get it more up to date with the ongoing issues we have in this state with juveniles and the crimes they commit. This bill died in the House Consumer & Public Affairs Committee by a 4-2 vote. Four democrats decided this bill was not important enough to the constituents of this state.

HB255, this bill was sponsored by five democrats, not bipartisan at all, three of them representatives and two senators. This bill went to the House Consumer & Public Affairs Committee passed with a vote of 4-2 vote. The same four democrats who vetoed HB 134 passed HB 255. The bill then goes to the floor to be voted on and it passed there with a 34-24 vote but also 12 excused votes. 

I am a registered democrat and have been all my life. Until my son was murdered in 2020 I didn’t get involved in politics. It didn’t interest me and I also thought that the people up in Santa Fe would do what is best for our state, boy was I ever wrong. I do believe in second chances as some criminals have certain circumstances that led them down this path of crime. If we are going to incarcerate criminals for their crimes then we also need to be willing to rehabilitate them so when they come out of the prison system they can have a fair chance at building a new life for themselves. Most companies will not hire felons, most rental properties will not rent to a felon, so if they have no options or a society to give them a new chance then they have no option but to go back to a life of crime. I also believe that they have to work hard while in the prison system to better themselves if they want society to take a chance on them. I am a hard core believer that once you cross the line and take a person’s’ life that you should spend the rest of your life in a prison cell. You are not redeemable in my eyes. You do not deserve to be out in society and continue to live amongst us. The life of the person you took does not get to come back and continue living, they don’t get a second chance. For our Legislators to pass a bill that would reward criminals for being criminals is just crazy. Juvenile murderers get to be released at age 21 and receive a stipend from my tax dollars to rebuild their life is asinine. I will be contacting our governor and asking her to VETO HB255 or simply not sign it. 

These are my thoughts and my views and not all members of the New Mexico Crusaders for Justice feel the same. The great thing about this is the right to disagree with each other but still care about each other. 

Signed,

Sally Sanchez