Frost McGahey, Investigative Journalist
New Mexico Supreme Court Justice Charles W. Daniels
In 2016 a bail reform amendment to the constitution was passed. The intention was to reduce the dependency on cash bail, if the defendant was not deemed a flight risk. Supporters contended that poorer individuals could not post bail and were unfairly jailed until trial. The amendment would change pretrial detention decisions to be based on risk rather than financial means.

"'Do you want to hold dangerous people in jail?' one headline read before the vote," Norm Wheeler said, candidate for District Attorney. "Most people I've talked with thought they were voting to make it more difficult for people to be released from jail pending trial. The effect of the amendment was just the opposite and is now called catch and release."

Constitutional Amendment 1: Proposing to amend article 2, section 13 of the constitution of New Mexico to protect public safety by granting courts new authority to deny release on bail pending trial for dangerous defendants in felony cases and to provide for the release of non-dangerous defendants who do not pose a flight risk.

The amendment was sponsored by New Mexico Supreme Court Justice Charles W. Daniels, a Democrat, who often aligned himself with progressive and liberal viewpoints. He said the reform would give judges greater discretion to assess individual cases based on risk rather than adhering to a strict bail schedule.*

He argued that with the elimination of cash bail for non-dangerous defendants it would ensure fair treatment for those who cannot afford bail. Another argument was that it would reduce crowding in the jails, especially those detained solely because they couldn't get bail. The reform would save money by incarcerating fewer people who were not a threat to public safety or a flight risk.

Daniels and the coalition he put together to support this bill asserted that elimination of cash bail upheld the principles of justice and fairness. A former criminal defense lawyer, Daniels was a member of the NM Trial Lawyers Association, NM Innocence and Justice Project, and the Southern Poverty Law Center along with several other social justice organizations.

He spearheaded a coalition supporting passage that consisted of the ACLU, NM Criminal Defense Lawyers, Center on Law and Poverty, and Catholic Charities, among others.

Opposition came from public safety advocates who were against the amendment because they were worried that it would lead to more defendants being released pretrial, which could endanger the public.

Also the bail bond industry argued that the present bail bonding system helped make sure defendants appeared in court. A defendant released without a bond in a drug or property crime case had no financial incentive to appear in court.

Some judges were concerned about the additional discretion they were given, and the lack of specific guidelines on how to assess dangerousness and flight risk. Prosecutors were apprehensive about the potential for increased burdens on the court system and their ability to keep dangerous individuals in custody.

Victim advocates feared that releasing individuals who couldn't afford bail might compromise the safety of victims in domestic violence cases

Governor Susanna Martinez was originally skeptical of the bill, but did support it in the end because she liked the provision that judges were authorized to deny bail to defendants deemed dangerous or a flight risk.

The vote was 616,904 for and 90,294 against.

The current crime crisis is described by Chief Portillo in his article in the Silver City Press.**

Next week: What Went Wrong

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** Violent crime drops in Silver; assaults, burglaries up - Silver City Daily Press (scdailypress.com) written by Lisa Jimenez.