New Mexico Senate to judge parole reforms
Concertina wire tops a fence at a detention facility. (Getty Images)
A proposal to modernize New Mexico's parole board and change the way its members can consider an incarcerated person's request for parole is headed to the state Senate.
Sens. Leo Jaramillo (D-Española) and Andrea Romero (D-Santa Fe) and Rep. Nicole Chavez (R-Albuquerque) are sponsoring Senate Bill 17, which introduces evidence-based practices when the board is considering whether to release someone who is serving a life sentence in prison.
SB 17 also clarifies crime victims' role in its deliberations and creates a process for removing members to protect their political independence.
The Senate Health and Public Affairs Committee on Feb. 6 voted 8-1 to pass the bill, and the Senate Judiciary Committee on Feb. 12 voted unanimously to send it to the full Senate.
The bill has support from the Parole Board itself, the American Civil Liberties Union of New Mexico, and the Law Offices of the Public Defender.
The legislation also changes the guidance to parole board members about how they should consider incarcerated people's requests for parole.
Rather than asking parole board members to focus on the incarcerated person's conduct that led to their conviction, the bill would require them to instead focus on how they have acted since they went behind the New Mexico Corrections Department's walls.
In other words, the bill would guide parole board members to evaluate the incarcerated person's conduct after a judge sentences them to figure out if they have shown they are ready to be released back into their community.
It would also require the board to hear from victims' families or representatives in the case before making a decision.
Over the past year, the board has gone through 'numerous' changes in membership, Director Roberta Cohen told lawmakers on Feb. 6.
The bill would prohibit the governor from removing a member unilaterally, but allow the governor or the board to remove members for incompetence, neglect of duty or malfeasance in office.
This story originally misidentified Nicole Chavez's position. Source regrets the error.
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