The deadline for submitting bills has passed and there is just under four weeks remaining in this legislative session. The Liberty and Justice Coalition (LJC) remains hopeful of positive outcomes regarding the bills we are working on. These bills have been discussed in previous LJC legislative updates, so only their statuses are presented below. Both the House and Senate saw a…
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2023 Legislative Update #4
The fourth week of the legislative session was marked by little movement on the bills that have been identified as priorities by Liberty and Justice Coalition (LJC). In the past week, no new bills of concern were introduced. This is encouraging, considering that Wednesday, February 16 is the last day for the introduction of new bills. Although much mischief can…
Read More2023 Legislative Update #3
The sixty-day legislative session has ended its third week. As of this writing, there are 353 bills pending in the House of Representatives and 372 pending in the Senate. All bills are routed through relevant committees in each chamber and those committees provide recommendations to the full body as to whether or not the bill should be passed. While this…
Read More2023 Legislative Update #2
Today marks the end of the second week of this year’s sixty-day legislative session. As we stated previously, any bill can be introduced for consideration during a 60-day session. We had anticipated that there would be several “tough-on-crime” bills introduced. Some of these proposals are retreads from previous sessions and others are brand new. We will need additional time to…
Read More2023 Legislative Update #1
The New Mexico Legislature convened for a 30-day session this past Tuesday. This will be a sixty-day session which means any bill can be introduced for consideration. Lawmakers from both political parties say crime will be a dominant issue in the session, as it was in last year’s gubernatorial race. What remains to be seen is whether Democrats and Republicans…
Read MoreSeventh Circuit affirms Wisconsin’s lifetime GPS monitoring
By Larry . . . NARSOL is disappointed in the outcome of a GPS challenge just decided by the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit from Wisconsin. The case is Benjamin Braam, Alton Antrim, and Dan Olszewski v. Kevin Carr, Wisconsin Secretary of Corrections. Wisconsin Statute § 301.48(2)(a)(7) requires lifetime monitoring of offenders who have been convicted of…
Read MoreEntrapment and ineffective assistance of counsel win the day — Illinois Supreme Court vacates conviction
By Larry . . . The People of the State of Illinois v. Shane Lewis (Docket No. 126705) decided June 24, 2022, deals with an egregious abuse by law enforcement and was clearly entrapment by any objective standard. Shane Lewis was charged with involuntary sexual servitude of a minor, traveling to meet a minor, and grooming. At trial, he asserted the defense of…
Read MoreLegislative Update #4
The 2022 legislative session will adjourn at noon on Thursday. The session has had some surprises that we had not anticipated. Although this year’s session has proven to be focused on cracking down on crime, nothing has passed through the process as of this writing. Due to the fact that 2022 is an election year for the office of Governor…
Read MoreLegislative Update #3
Legislative Update #3 This 30-day session has unfolded as we had anticipated. This year’s session has proven to be focused on cracking down on crime, and there are several competing proposals. The cutoff for introduction of legislation was February 2nd which means all the bills we need to analyze are in the system. Although crime has been an issue in New Mexico for several years, many have gotten on the bandwagon since this is an…
Read MoreLegislative Update #2
We had anticipated that this year’s session would be dueling get-tough on crime proposals. As we approach the mid-point of the session, that has proven to be the case. The cutoff for introduction of legislation is February 2nd which means more bills are yet to come. Crime has been an issue in New Mexico for several years and now many…
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