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A MEMORIAL

REQUESTING THAT A TASK FORCE BE CONVENED TO STUDY THE

FEASIBILITY AND EFFECTIVENESS OF CREATING AN INDEPENDENT

ENTITY TO OVERSEE NEW MEXICO'S CORRECTIONAL FACILITIES.

WHEREAS, the vast majority of convicted criminals do not

remain in prison but return to the world outside of prison and

to the communities from which they came; and

WHEREAS, what happens in our prisons does not stay

within prison walls but spills over into the rest of society;

and

WHEREAS, studies show that within three years of

release, sixty-seven percent of former prisoners are re-

arrested and fifty-two percent are re-incarcerated for crimes

committed in our communities; and

WHEREAS, inadequate health care in prisons increases the

rates of contagious disease and illness among prisoners and

prison staff, which can bring illness and spread contagious

disease to the community at large; and

WHEREAS, the commission on safety and abuse in America's

prisons studied correctional facilities nationwide for more

than a year to make recommendations on how prisons can become

safer and more effective; and

WHEREAS, on June 8, 2006, the commission released its

report detailing the violence and abuse in prisons in the

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United States, the broad impact of those problems on public

safety and public health and how correctional facilities

nationwide can become safer and more effective; and

WHEREAS, the commission on safety and abuse in America's

prisons has determined that prisons are dangerous, violent and

overcrowded, subjecting prisoners to inadequate health care,

rape, gang violence and even beatings by officers; and

WHEREAS, correctional facilities are walled off from

external monitoring and public scrutiny to a degree

inconsistent with the responsibility of public institutions;

and

WHEREAS, the commission recommended, among other things,

that every state create an independent entity to oversee the

operation and management of correctional facilities; and

WHEREAS, it is difficult to determine the conditions

that exist in New Mexico's privately and publicly operated

prisons; and

WHEREAS, New Mexico leads the nation in the percentage

of inmates housed in private prisons and has contracts with

private health care organizations for the medical and mental

health care of inmates, and New Mexico periodically has

problems with oversight, adequacy and other issues with those

private contractors; and

WHEREAS, New Mexico prisons should not be "schools of

crime" but should focus on reintegrating offenders into

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society so that the ninety-five percent of prisoners who

return to society do not export prison violence into our

communities; and

WHEREAS, identifying structural and administrative

problems within our corrections system is an important step

toward reducing rates of violence and recidivism; and

WHEREAS, safe and productive prisons are of benefit to

all New Mexicans, and all public institutions benefit from

strong and independent oversight; and

WHEREAS, lack of independent oversight leads to ongoing

health and safety problems within our correctional facilities,

which in turn leads to ongoing health and safety problems in

our communities;

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE HOUSE OF

REPRESENTATIVES OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO that the attorney

general be requested to appoint and chair a task force to

study the feasibility and effectiveness of forming an

independent entity that would oversee the status and

conditions of New Mexico's correctional facilities; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that if the task force finds that

it would be feasible and effective to form an independent

entity, it specify the composition and nature of the entity,

its expertise and the areas and methods of oversight; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the task force report its

findings to the appropriate interim legislative committee no

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later than November 2008; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this memorial be

transmitted to the attorney general.