NAACP

A Project of the New Mexico NAACP
A Justice System that Works for New Mexico’s Families

The Four Adopted Resolutions

Bias-Based Policing Study: During the 2007 legislative session, the Santa Fe branch of the NAACP secured funding to begin a bias-based policing study bill in New Mexico. In order to continue this important study, however, we must secure additional funding during the 2008 legislative session. This additional funding will not only ensure the study continues, but will also help the Sentencing Commission make recommendations for the development and implementation of plans, policies, and strategies to eliminate bias-based policing in New Mexico.

Treatment Instead of Incarceration: Legislation being supported by the Drug Policy Alliance NM would allow first- and second-time nonviolent drug possession offenders to receive supervised probation and appropriate community-based treatment, instead of incarceration. This innovative treatment program enhances public safety by reducing drug-related crime and preserves jail and prison space for violent offenders. The cost of probation and treatment is much less than the cost of incarceration, and people who receive treatment services are more likely to become productive members of their families and society instead of committing future crimes.

Independent Public Defender Department: Justice is supposed to be available to everybody, not just the wealthy — but poor people in New Mexico who can’t afford a private criminal defense lawyer are getting shortchanged. That’s because our Public Defender Department is chronically under-funded, overburdened and subject to political pressure. We need to make sure public defenders are adequately funded so that they have the resources they need to honor the Constitution’s promise of equal justice under the law, and politically independent so that they can represent the best interests of their clients – not those of elected politicians. Legislation proposed by the NM Coalition for Justice will make the Public Defender Department, which is currently controlled by the Governor, an independent agency so that it can do its job without ethical, political or economic handicaps

Protect Drivers’ Licenses for Immigrants—Oppose the REAL ID Act: The New Mexico Legislature must decide whether the state will undertake a costly overhaul of its driver’s license application procedures in accordance with the REAL ID Act, a federal law passed in 2005. The act sets new federal standards for issuing licenses that would essentially create a national ID card and restrict states’ ability to give licenses to undocumented immigrants. The act is not mandatory, and Somos Un Pueblo Unido will work to ensure that the legislature oppose the implementation of REAL ID, protect immigrant access to licenses, and preserve the positive results New Mexico’s driver’s license law has had on public safety for everyone.