CITY of ALBUQUERQUE
TWENTY FOURTH COUNCIL
COUNCIL BILL NO. M-21-10 ENACTMENT NO. ________________________
SPONSORED BY: Cynthia D. Borrego
MEMORIAL
title
Reaffirming The City Of Albuquerque's Commitment To Decrease Crime, And Recidivism, And Advocating Criminal Justice Reform In Metro Albuquerque And Bernalillo County (Borrego)
body
WHEREAS, in 2016 the New Mexico Legislature voted 91% in favor of a NM State Constitutional Amendment to give judges new authority to deny release to proven dangerous defendants - no matter how much they can pay for a bail bond - and ensuring that defendants who are neither a danger nor a flight risk may not be kept in jail before trial only because they cannot afford to buy a money bond; and
WHEREAS, later in the same year, 87% of New Mexico voters were in favor of giving the judges this new authority; and
WHEREAS, under the American system of justice, people charged with a crime are presumed innocent until proven guilty. The New Mexico Constitution has guaranteed since statehood that people charged with a crime have a right to be released pretrial, except in limited instances. By allowing a person to remain free while awaiting trial, the state avoids punishing a person awaiting a determination of guilt - a fundamental principle of our justice system; and
WHEREAS, according to the Second Judicial District Court of New Mexico, crime rates in the Albuquerque area rose significantly from 2010 to 2016, during the time that dangerous defendants were able to rotate in and out of jails and courts on catch-and-release money bonds; and
WHEREAS, in 2015 Albuquerque Police Officer Daniel Webster was shot and died several days later when detaining a convicted felon in a routine traffic stop who had been in and out of the prison system; and
WHEREAS, in 2015 Rio Rancho Police Department Officer Gregg "Nigel" Benner was killed on a routine stop by a person with a lengthy criminal record and an active warrant...
Click here for full text