REQUESTING THE CORRECTIONS DEPARTMENT TO STUDY AND MAKE RECOMMENDATIONS ON THE HIGH RECIDIVISM RATE AMONG NEW MEXICO WOMEN IN PRISON.

WHEREAS, recidivism among New Mexico women is alarmingly and unacceptably high; and

WHEREAS, a very high percentage of these women are returned to prison for nonviolent offenses; and

WHEREAS, many women released from prison are not successful in re-integrating themselves into their families and communities; and

WHEREAS, most of these women are mothers, and the separation, often repeated, of mothers from children helps create the cycle of delinquent behavior in many children; and

WHEREAS, all the citizens of New Mexico would benefit from a penal system designed to break these cycles of family disintegration and recidivism among women inmates;

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO that the corrections department be requested to conduct a comprehensive study, subject to available funding, on the causes of recidivism among women inmates and the impact of their imprisonment on their children and families; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the department make recommendations on both in-prison and post-release programs and other means to reduce recidivism among women inmates to the interim legislative corrections oversight committee at its October 2001 meeting; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that copies of this memorial be sent to the secretary of corrections and to the interim legislative corrections oversight committee.