Gov. To Call Special Session On July 18 to Focus on Public Safety

by | Apr 30, 2024 | News and Interviews, Newsletters

 

On April 17, New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham announced she will call state legislators into a Special Session starting July 18.  The session will focus on addressing public safety proposals. The governor said she expects the session to wrap up within several days. She decided to convene the session to allow lawmakers to finish what they started during the regular 30-day session.  The upcoming special legislative session will be the fifth special session the governor has called while in office.

According to a news release, the session will focus on public safety. The Governor’s news release says in part:

“While we made some progress toward a safer New Mexico during the 30-day day session, we agree that we must do more. The special session in July will enable us to deliver additional statutory changes that reduce the danger and risk New Mexico communities face every day. The best proposals for making our state safer will be under consideration, and I welcome input from my colleagues in the legislature.”

FOUR MEASURES BEING DISCUSSED

In a March 26 interview with the Santa Fe New Mexican, Governor Lujan Grisham said there are 4 measures she might include in a Special Session:

The first bill would send criminal defendants who are found incompetent to stand trial to a mental health or behavioral health treatment program. Supporters, like Bernalillo County District Attorney Sam Bregman, 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 one version of the so-called “revolving door” that the governor clearly wants to close. It appears that bill, which did not make it very far in the previous legislative session, is at the top of the special session agenda.

The second bill would be “sort of a civil counterpart to [to the first]” Lujan Grisham said. It would offer mental or behavioral health programs to people with “a significant mental health issue and a chemical dependency” when family members are unable to have them involuntarily held in an inpatient facility. The bill would allow for treatment for at least 90 days according to the Governor. The governor said this:

“Judges want this tool. … They can meaningfully use it.”

The third measure would restrict panhandling and in particular when people are camping out on medians or standing near busy intersections. The governor said she has seen people lying down in roadways and chasing vehicles, including hers. The Governor said this:

“This has to end because someone on the streets is going to get killed. A child is going to get killed. A motorist is going to get killed or kill someone.”

According to the Governor, the 3 bills together would “allow us then to focus on the remaining supports and remedies — housing, income, the ability to provide meaningful behavioral health for people who couldn’t get access.”

The fourth bill would increase penalties for some crimes, such as being a felon in possession of a firearm.

Analysis

While the four items mentioned above are no doubt needed, they appear to be “nibbling around the edges” of the drug abuse, homelessness and, hence, crime problems.  Some have called for making the existing Second Judicial District Mental Health Court program mandatory.  The Court would function as outreach and treatment court for the drug addicted and the mentally ill in a hospital or counseling setting and not involving jail incarceration.

Additionally, a Mental Health Treatment Court could be established.  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 Apri 17, 2024.

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