April 8, 1999

The Honorable Raymond G. Sanchez and

Members of the House of Representatives

Executive-Legislative Building

Santa Fe, New Mexico 87503

Honorable Speaker and Members of the House:

I have this day VETOED and am returning HOUSE BILL 225,with certificate of correction,

enacted by the Forty-Fourth Legislature, First Session, 1999.

This legislation would do away with mandatory sentencing and would replace it with a series of guidelines and presumptions which would assist a judge when sentencing criminals. Our citizens have the right to be assured that criminals who destroy their lives will receive due punishment in the form of incarceration. Any erosion of this assurance is detrimental to our criminal justice system and cannot be justified.

Sincerely,

Gary E. Johnson

Governor