House Bill 134 is a bipartisan juvenile justice reform bill to rewrite New Mexico’s juvenile justice laws as embodied in the Children’s Code. It would expand the list of violent crimes where juveniles can be charged as adults and as a “serious youthful offender” to make sure violent teen suspects are held accountable for those crimes. It would set aside money for programs providing services for youth in detention or CYFD and establish a panel to determine what comes next for a juvenile sentenced to a detention facility.
On March 6, the House Consumer and Public Affairs Committee debated a slimmed-down version of House Bill 134 and voted 4 to 2 to table the legislation thereby killing the bill. With the 4 Democrats voting in favor of halting the legislation from advancing it means it’s unlikely the bill will be revived before the session ends March 22.
The proposal was stuck in committee for weeks. Republican State Representatives Andrea Reeb , one of the sponsors of the bill said this:
“I’m disappointed, frustrated. I pre-filed this bill before the session even started. I wanted to give it the biggest chance to get across the finish line. I was assigned to CPAC, which we generally know is the kill committee and I did my first presentation. They had a lot of concerns. I edited the bill and then I just could not seem to get the bill heard. … I was pretty much told by the chair it wasn’t going to be heard. Then, I finally, for some unknown reason, I ended up getting the bill scheduled [for hearing]. So, that was the first time we actually had been able to present the bill with our changes and all the stakeholders that we brought into it.”
Crime, juvenile violent offenders in New Mexico are really what I feel is the biggest problem we’re facing right now with crime. So, what this did was just literally deal with two parts. It took what we call serious youthful offenders. And it added where [it] used to be just first-degree murder. We [added] … second-degree murder … armed robbery … shooting at or from a motor vehicle … causing great bodily harm … [and] involuntary manslaughter. And we lowered the age from 15 to 14 because, as you know, we’re having way younger offenders that are shooting and killing people.”
Bernalillo County District Attorney Sam Bregman had advocated for an overhaul of New Mexico’s juvenile criminal code since October. DA Bregman’s original plan included 36 changes to New Mexico’s juvenile justice laws, all meant to increase the consequences and accountability for violent teen suspects.
DA Bregman has said that overall violent crime appears to be trending down in New Mexico. However, he has said violent juvenile crime is “out of control,” saying 25 defendants under age 18 are currently detained and facing murder charges in New Mexico. Bregman said this:
“Juveniles without consequences who later commit murder or violent crimes happens every single week in Bernalillo County. … We have to do some things so they learn when they first enter the criminal justice system that their conduct of violating certain laws and norms cannot continue without a consequence. Therefore, they learn it, because we’re not at the end of the day… As far as violent crime in Albuquerque, the thing that we could do most to move the needle is reform, is juvenile code fixing.”
BACKERS LEFT DISAPPOINTED AND FRUSTRATED
The 4-2 party-line vote to kill House Bill 134 upset its backers. Bernalillo County District Attorney Sam Bregman said this:
“I’m disappointed and frustrated the Legislature is unwilling to update the children’s code to reflect what’s happening on the streets of Albuquerque and New Mexico. … Apparently the Legislature is OK with the status quo … I’m certainly not.”
House Bill 134, is one of several public safety measures that Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham had urged lawmakers to pass during this year’s session. Governor Lujan Grisham last month signed a crime package that included provisions dealing with school shooting threats, fentanyl trafficking and drugged driving, but the package did not include increased penalties for youthful offenders convicted of crimes like armed robbery and drive-by shootings. The crime package was criticized for not including juvenile justice reform.
During the March 6 meeting of the House Consumer and Public Affairs Committee, several Democratic lawmakers expressed concern about extending criminal penalties for juvenile offenders into adulthood. Representative Andrea Romero, D-Santa Fe, cited improved rehabilitation rates for juvenile offenders compared to adults and said this:
“We’re talking about detaining and committing children.”
But backers of the legislation cited statistics showing juvenile crime rates have increased in recent years, even while FBI crime data shows a recent statewide decrease in overall violent and property crime in New Mexico. Troy Gray, a deputy district attorney in charge of juvenile crime in the Bernalillo County District Attorney’s Office, told members of the committee there was a 57% increase in cases involving juvenile criminal defendants from 2022 to 2023.
Representative Andrea Reeb, R-Clovis, a prosecutor herself, said this:
“Everybody in this room knows what’s happening with juvenile crime. …We have 13-year-olds committing murder.”
It was Rep. Reeb who scaled down the bill from its initial version in hopes of making it more palatable. Reeb said the measure’s two Democratic co-sponsors Reps. Art De La Cruz and Cynthia Borrego, both of Albuquerque, backed away from the legislation during this year’s session. Neither of the two joined Reeb and Rep. Nicole Chavez, R-Albuquerque, in presenting the bill during the March 6 committee hearing.
Representative Reeb and Chavez acknowledged the tabling of the bill in committee means it’s unlikely to pass both legislative chambers before adjournment. Reeb said this:
“It could very well be too late [for this session], but we’re not going to stop trying.”
Representative Chavez, whose son was killed in a drive-by shooting in 2015, described the committee vote as a “kick to the stomach” and said this
“This is my journey for ten years now. We have been asking to address juvenile crime and hold the most violent juveniles accountable. New Mexicans are saying that we are at a crisis and it’s time to take action. The fact that it sounded like all the committee members were doing was making excuses for the juvenile’s violent actions and coddling the criminals instead of holding them accountable and forgetting about the victims across the state that are losing their children and their loved ones to violent crime was disheartening
Numerous crime-related bills have been assigned during this year’s session to the House Consumer and Public Affairs Committee. While some measures have passed, many others have stalled in committee, and a total of 56 bills were pending in the committee as of March 7.
Republican Representative John Block of Alamogordo accused the House majority Democrats of passing “weak sauce” crime legislation. Block said this:
“It’s a shame because some people would rather just see the problem continue while other people want to actually solve it.”
On March 7, Governor Lujan Grisham said she was disappointed that House Bill 134, will not make it to her desk. However she remained hopeful lawmakers might address juvenile violence in other proposals. Lujan Grisham said this in a statement:
“New Mexicans are demanding juvenile justice reform, and I urge lawmakers to answer their call.”
https://www.kob.com/news/top-news/juvenile-justice-reform-bill-remains-stuck-at-starting-line/
https://www.koat.com/article/new-mexico-juvenile-crime/64097861
COMMENTARY AND ANALYSIS
The failure of House Bill 134 to receive approval by the House Consumer and Public Affairs Committee is as about as disappointing as it gets. The proposed update of the Children’s Code of adding violent crimes to allow juveniles teens to be charged as “serious youthful offender” to make sure violent teen suspects are held accountable for those crimes was reasonable and measured. It was an acknowledgement of a crisis that needs to be dealt with. Instead, the committee simply ignored what is going on with teens committing adult violent crimes and leaving no real options to secure justice for victims of violent crime.
Democrats have a commanding 43-26 majority in the House and a 26-16 majority in the Senate. If there was ever a realistic chance for the New Mexico Legislature to enact major reform measures for teens committing adult violent crimes, this was the year to do it. Instead, the legislature looks the other way and pretends there is no problem and kicks the can down the road.