GOVERNOR ANNOUNCES FIVE PUBLIC SAFETY MEASURES FOR JULY 18 SPECIAL SESSION
Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham will ask lawmakers to pass 5 public-safety measures during the July 18 special session of the New Mexico legislature.
The governor’s spokeswoman released a “discussion draft” of 4 of the 5 bills and said the governor would “welcome input” from legislators.
The 5 public safety measures provide as follows:
The first bill would make changes to the state’s criminal competency law. The bill, which did not make it very far in the previous legislative session, is at the top of the special session agenda. The bill would send criminal defendants who are found incompetent to stand trial to a mental health or behavioral health treatment program. Supporters say there are far too many suspects who are arrested, deemed incompetent to stand trial, and then released back on the streets only to commit more crimes. It’s a bill designed to address in part the so-called “revolving door” where defendants are arrested only to be found incompetent to stand trial and then released. The legislation is intended to strengthen a 2016 law and a program originally signed into law by former Governor Susana Martinez that allows district judges to order involuntary treatment for people with severe mental illness who have frequent brushes with law enforcement. It involves a program called the “Assisted Outpatient Treatment” (AOT).
The second bill would expand a program that mandates involuntary treatment for people with mental illness. The bill involves civil mental heath commitments where there are no criminal charges involved. The bill is an assisted out-patient treatment bill proposal that would allow a judge to mandate out-patient treatment, including involuntarily commitments. It would allow individuals, whether first responders, family members or community members who work with mentally ill individuals on the streets to request involuntary out-patient treatment.
The third bill would strengthen penalties for a felon convicted of possessing a firearm, making the crime a second-degree felony, punishable by a minimum of 9 years in prison.
The fourth bill would prohibit pedestrians from occupying highway medians, on-ramps and exit ramps. The bill is intended to address individuals loitering on street medians despite a similar bill receiving pushback in the 2024 legislature over its constitutionality. It failed to pass. The new bill would contain language that says that in places where a speed limit is more than 30 miles per hour, individuals may not loiter on a median that is 36 inches or less. The bill is similar to a city ordinance enacted by the Albuquerque City Council last year.
The fifth bill would require law enforcement agencies to report certain monthly crime incident reports and ballistic information.
Three of the five measures are leftovers from the 2024 legislative session. The 3 “leftover” measures are median safety bill that is often described as a panhandling ban, increasing penalties for felons caught with firearms, and new data collection and sharing requirements for law enforcement agencies. It is the two new proposals on mental health commitments that are complicated and where it appears there is no consensus arrived at by legislators. One of them is reworking the state’s criminal competency laws, ideally making it easier for the courts to mandate certain suspects into behavioral health treatments. The other is an assisted outpatient treatment bill.
PUSHBACK FROM LEGISLATORS
Both Democrats and Republicans asked why a special session was needed to be called for legislation that they believed could or should be addressed during a regular session of the legislature. Even some Democrats had harsh words for Governor Lujan Grisham’s proposal.
COMMENTARY AND ANALYSIS
It’s very disappointing that the Governor has failed to reach any real consensus with legislative leaders on what needs to be done and what measures should be enacted before the special session she has called. All five measures Governor Lujan Grisham is proposing for the Special Session are a good start, but in no way come even close to what is actually needed. Warehousing the mentally ill or drug addicted in jails for crimes committed is not the answer and does not address treatment and the court’s must be looked to as part of the solution.
Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham and the New Mexico Legislature need to proceed with the Special Session of the legislature for public safety, but the primary emphasis should be the creation of a new 14th Judicial District Court designated as a Mental Health Court with 3 separate regional divisions one located in Albuquerque, one in Las Cruces and one in Las Vegas, New Mexico with the creation of at least 3 District Court Judge positions with 6 year terms appointed by the New Mexico Supreme Court.
Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham and the legislature should seek to designate the 14th Judicial District Court a specialty “Mental Health Treatment Court” functioning as outreach and treatment court for the drug addicted and the mentally ill in mandatory hospital or counseling settings and not involving jail incarceration.
As it stands now, there exists less than adequate facilities where patients can be referred to for civil mental health commitments and treatment. In other words there is nowhere for people to go or be placed to get the mental health and drug treatment needed. There is glaring need for a behavioral health hospital and drug rehabilitation treatment facilities.
New Mexico is currently experiencing historical surplus revenues and this past legislative session the legislature had an astonishing $3.6 Billion in surplus revenue. Now is the time to create a statewide Mental Health Court and dedicate funding for the construction of behavioral health hospital and drug rehabilitation treatment facilities the courts can rely upon for referrals.
A statewide mental health court with mandatory civil commitments will get treatment to those who need it the most, help get the unhoused off the streets and help families with loved ones who resist any mental health treatment.
Excerpted from Pete Dinelli’s Blog of 6/10/2024