0001|                    SENATE JOINT MEMORIAL 52
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0002|     42ND LEGISLATURE - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - SECOND SESSION,
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0003|     1996
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0004|                         INTRODUCED BY
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0005|                       JOSEPH J. CARRARO
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0006|     
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0007|     
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0008|     
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0009|     
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0010|     
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0011|                        A JOINT MEMORIAL
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0012|     REQUESTING THE DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SAFETY TO CONSULT WITH
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0013|     APPROPRIATE JUDICIAL AUTHORITIES AND LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCIES
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0014|     AND MAKE RECOMMENDATIONS TO THE FORTY-THIRD LEGISLATURE
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0015|     REGARDING THE ADEQUACY OF THE CRIMINAL SENTENCING ACT.
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0016|     
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0017|       WHEREAS, since 1963 New Mexico has had a Criminal Code and
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0018|     since 1977 a Criminal Sentencing Act, both of which contain
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0019|     nearly four hundred pages of statutory law addressing hundreds
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0020|     of criminal offenses and a wide array of criminal sentencing
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0021|     provisions; and
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0022|       WHEREAS, within the state's Criminal Code a perpetrator may
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0023|     be punished for personal injury or damage to property, including
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0024|     unlawfully threatening or menacing conduct, insulting language,
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0025|     assaulting or striking a person, the intentional touching of
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0001|     another in a rude, insolent or angry manner, trespassing and a
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0002|     host of other similar criminal offenses against any citizen or
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0003|     against their property; and
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0004|       WHEREAS, all persons convicted of a crime in New Mexico are
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0005|     sentenced in accordance with the more than one hundred twenty
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0006|     existing sections of the Criminal Sentencing Act, including a
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0007|     broad range of capital and noncapital offenses covering four
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0008|     classes of felonies, two types of misdemeanors, enhanced
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0009|     penalties and penalties for habitual offenders and a series of
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0010|     fines ranging from five hundred dollars ($500) to fifteen
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0011|     thousand dollars ($15,000); and
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0012|       WHEREAS, the legislature for over thirty years has by law
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0013|     conferred substantial discretionary authority to our courts and
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0014|     to our prosecutors, including authority over plea bargaining,
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0015|     sentencing, suspension and deferral of sentencing, probation and
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0016|     the consideration of aggravating and mitigating circumstances;
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0017|     and
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0018|       WHEREAS, New Mexico is now the ninth most dangerous state
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0019|     in the nation, the fourth highest in the country in arrests for
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0020|     offenses against families and children and the seventh worst in
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0021|     overall per capita crime with over one hundred thousand crimes
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0022|     committed each year against our citizens; and
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0023|       WHEREAS, every day violent and hateful crimes, such as
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0024|     murder, rape and manslaughter, are committed against New
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0025|     Mexicans from all walks of life, including citizens of all ages
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0001|     and both sexes as well as citizens from all income classes with
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0002|     a wide variety of personal beliefs, social views and political
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0003|     positions; and
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0004|       WHEREAS, the legislature has always addressed the state's
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0005|     crime problem by defining broad classes of crimes against "we
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0006|     the people", not against classes of people based on a citizen's
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0007|     color, religion, ancestry or other narrow classifications that
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0008|     too often divide us and promote group consciousness,
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0009|     divisiveness and victimization rather than the defense of a
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0010|     criminal justice system that protects all citizens, compensates
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0011|     all victims and punishes all criminals; 
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0012|       NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE
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0013|     STATE OF NEW MEXICO that it affirm and express its support and
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0014|     confidence in our existing Criminal Code, the Criminal
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0015|     Sentencing Act and our judicial system to protect our citizens,
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0016|     bring the accused to justice and punish the guilty, including
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0017|     perpetrators of "crimes of hate" based on a person's age, race,
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0018|     color, nationality, ancestry, sexual orientation or
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0019|     developmental disability; and
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0020|       BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the legislature express its
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0021|     confidence in our judicial system's ability not only to
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0022|     determine guilt or innocence under existing substantive criminal
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0023|     law, existing procedural law and existing court rules, but also
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0024|     to fully assess the severity of the crime, evaluating the extent
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0025|     of malice and brutality involved and then imposing punishment
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0001|     accordingly; and
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0002|       BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that it request the department of
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0003|     public safety in consultation with appropriate judicial
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0004|     authorities and law enforcement agencies to specifically review
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0005|     the adequacy of the Criminal Sentencing Act as it relates to
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0006|     noncapital felonies against persons and injuries to property and
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0007|     make recommendations to the legislature before December 15, 1996
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0008|     regarding the need to make comprehensive changes to the Criminal
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0009|     Sentencing Act; and
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0010|       BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this memorial be
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0011|     transmitted to the secretary of public safety.
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0012|                              
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0013|     
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