Governor urges NM lawmakers to address crime

Lisel Petis, resident senior fellow for criminal justice and civil liberties at the conservative public policy think tank R Street Institute, said recidivism is reduced when court cases are quickly resolved.

“The chances of getting caught deter crime way more than the severity of the punishment should they get caught,” Petis asserted. “We’re seeing kind of record low clearance rates across the nation right now, so people are feeling that they’re probably not going to get caught…”

The governor also wants to see updates to criminal competency laws to ensure individuals repeatedly cycling through New Mexico’s courts receive treatment instead of being released.

Petis argued such policies offer solutions because repeat offenders often do not have stable jobs, they suffer from mental, behavioral or physical disabilities or they are homeless.

“How do you better address a mental health crisis, how do you better address a substance-use disorder? Because just throwing somebody in jail, 95, 99% of people are going to get back out of jail,” Petis explained. “If you have not addressed those issues, they’re going to come back out and create more problems.”

Petis emphasized the majority of people released on bail do not commit another crime but those who are risk-averse may not be deterred. She added most people who commit crimes have not read the laws and do not know what the punishment might look like.