The Real Cost of Prisons Weblog

First in a series: Richardson on crime
By Walter Rubel Santa Fe Bureau Chief
Nov 13, 2005

SANTA FE -- The voice coming from the radio this past June was unmistakably that of Gov. Bill Richardson.

"If you think New Mexico's DWI laws are tough now, they're about to get even tougher," Richardson warned -- followed with what has become an ubiquitous catch phrase in the governor's crusade against drunken driving, "You drink, you drive, you lose.

New laws, combined with an increase in checkpoints and other enforcement, have resulted in a drop in DWI accidents in each of the last three years, according to numbers provided by the state. But, defense attorneys say they have also created an economic hardship for many New Mexicans and their families.

"Tough" is not a word that many would have used to describe New Mexico's DWI laws at the time Richardson took office. The law at that time provided no way to identify and deal with chronic repeat offenders. Once a person was convicted a fourth time, they had reached the maximum of the state's penalty scale -- a fourth-degree felony with a minimum mandatory sentence of six months and a maximum sentence of two years. Stories of people being arrested for the 15th time or more became common, and they faced the same penalties as someone arrested a fourth time.

Richardson helped push through a bill in 2003, his first legislative session, toughening penalties for repeat offenders. In 2004, the Legislature made it a felony for an adult to provide alcohol to a minor. This year New Mexico became the only state in the nation to require that all first-time DWI offenders have an ignition interlock device installed in their car.

But not everyone is pleased with the progress.

Senate Majority Floor Leader Michael Sanchez, D-Belen, an attorney in private life, warned throughout the last session of what he called the ever-widening net being cast by the state. And, as a result of tougher penalties for not only drunk driving but a number of crimes, the state's prisons are now full.

Sentencing Commission officials have said that if growth projections by the Department of Corrections are accurate, the state will need to build a new 600-bed prison every three years to handle number of prisoners flooding into the system.

Senate Minority Whip Mary Jane Garcia, D-Doña Ana, sponsored two bills in the last three years that have resulted or will result in longer jail sentences being handed out -- the hate crimes bill of 2003 and a bill this year mandating life sentences for child abuse resulting in death. But Garcia said she's concerned by the growing prison rate.

"We need to build more schools rather than build more prisons. That's always been my feeling," Garcia said. "We have so many nonviolent inmates, both in the adult and the juvenile corrections facilities, and if it's going to be our desire to just throw everybody in jail for DWIs or whatever, then we are going to need a lot of prison space."

Richardson described his strategy on DWI as "a two-pronged approach, with a crowbar" - with the first prong being enforcement, and the second treatment.

Bob Schwartz, Richardson's crime policy analyst and a former prosecutor, said the state knows it can't "imprison our way out of these problems.

"But, if somebody presents a danger, this governor has absolutely not one nanosecond of hesitation for him to lock someone up to keep the rest of New Mexico safe," Schwartz said.

Along with DWI, Richardson has also called for and received changes toughening the laws for domestic violence, sexual assault and crimes against children.

"Obviously, DWI and domestic violence rank among the governor's highest priorities, not only because their consequences are so drastic and so damaging to people's lives, but because they're crimes of scale," Schwartz said. "There are thousands and thousands and thousands of cases of these types of crimes, so they really have an impact on the system that's not just financial, but it frustrates what the system should be doing about that particular crime."

DWI

On the Web site for New Mexico Mothers Against Drunk Driving there is an entry titled "Bill Richardson's Campaign Pledges" listing 14 specific actions then-candidate Richardson vowed to accomplish if elected.

The pledges were both specific goals, such as 10 percent increase in DWI arrests in 2003, and general goals, such as increasing DWI checkpoints and cooperation between law enforcement agencies. DWI arrests jumped from 4,537 in 2002 to 5,714 in 2003, Richardson's first year in office, representing a 26 percent increase in arrests.

"I'm pretty sure most of the things that are on that list, he's delivered on those, plus," said Terry Huertaz executive director of New Mexico MADD. "He's taken a strong stand on this issue."

Huertaz said one of the most important things Richardson did was to bring coordination to the many different state and local agencies working on the drunken-driving problem by naming a "DWI czar." Rachel O'Connor was one of three "czars" named by Richardson. Former State Police Deputy Chief Herman Sylva was named drug czar, and substance abuse expert Leslie Tremaine was appointed the treatment czar.

O'Connor said that after three years of pushing to get DWI laws toughened, the focus will likely shift to ensuring that those laws are implemented correctly.

"The Richardson administration has pushed through a fair amount of large, tough new reforms. Where we're headed, I think, is refining those reforms," O'Connor said. "For example, with ignition interlock, we're working to make sure we're collecting the data, and we're working with the courts to make sure they're implementing it in a way that is most effective and make sure that all convicted drunk drivers get ignition interlock."

The ignition interlock bill passed in this last session is one example of how the state's new laws are creating an economic hardship for its citizens, Las Cruces defense attorney Mario Esparza said.

"The only ones benefiting from that are the ones who are doing the installations. It's expensive," Esparza said. "You've confronted the DWI problem, but have caused an economic backlash."

Esparza said that the new law will force many first-time offenders living in poverty to chose between paying for the interlock device or putting food on the table. While there is an indigent fund to help those sentenced pay for the device, it will only cover part of the cost.

"I'm talking about first offenders," Esparza said. "I can see the difference with somebody who hasn't learned. But when you're talking about first-time offenders, it's really a hardship."

Treatment

Schwartz said one of the first things he did after being named the governor's crime policy analyst was try to determine exactly how many beds were available in the state for those needing drug and alcohol treatment, and how great a shortfall there was.

"The first thing I found was nobody knew the answer," Schwartz said.

He said they eventually decided there were not quite 300 beds. He said addicts who finally decided they were ready for treatment were being put on 90-day waiting lists.

Schwartz said the newly formed Behavioral Health Collaborative, which has contracted with the private firm Value Options to coordinate all of the state's services and purchases dealing with substance abuse and mental health issues, will be able to increase the treatment capacity.

Tremaine said for the state to really address the problem, it must do more than merely add beds.

"It's like with prisons, you can have as many beds as you want, and you're going to continue to fill them," she said. "Just increasing the bed numbers is not going to cut it."

Tremaine said that along with working to add treatment facilities, the state has also increased the number of drug courts, which provide intensive, coordinated supervision for those convicted of drug or alcohol crimes.

She said they've also beefed up the parole and probation staffs, funded transition programs to help those coming out of prison and formed numerous partnerships with others working in drug and alcohol abuse.

"We are working with Value Options to enhance bed capacity, but we realize that unless we complete the rest of the picture, we'll never have change," Tremaine said. "The same people keep filling the same beds. Something needs to happen to break that cycle."

She said when she was first hired, the state was expending 70 percent of its treatment resources on 10 percent of its population.

"What really needs to happen is we need to sustain these programs for several years, and then we'll know how much of a difference we've made," she said. "It's not as sexy as saying we've doubled our bed capacity, but it will help in the long run."

A proposal by the Sex Offender Management Board to increase funding for sex offender treatment at the State Hospital in Las Vegas did not pass this year in the Legislature. Richardson said he supported the proposal, but didn't know about it in time to include it in his budget.

Asked if the treatment component is lagging behind the enforcement component, Richardson replied, "Yeah, possibly.

"Treatment and education have to go hand-in-hand with tougher penalties, but I do feel, in the tougher penalties area, we were very weak," he said.

Other crimes

Schwartz said the governor's focus in addressing both DWI and other crimes has been to offer protection to the most vulnerable.

"This administration is about helping people that don't have the ability to necessarily help themselves. We're talking about children, citizens with disabilities, the elderly," he said. "If you're the type of criminal that would pick out the most vulnerable victim, then you're the type of criminal we want to give the most serious sentence."

He said the mandatory sentences called for in many of the laws, and resulting limitations on judicial discretion, are warranted.

"There are certain areas of judicial discretion that haven't been exercised well in the past, that haven't kept New Mexicans safe, and that is going to be controlled by the Legislature," Schwartz said. "Like with the Sexual Predator Act. It's not a very difficult formula for (Richardson) -- you commit a sexual crime against a kid, you're going to go to prison."

The state also toughened its notification and registration requirements this year for sexual offenders. It added to the list of crimes for which someone must register and required that some offenders remain on the list for the rest of their lives.

Jane Gouche, legislative coordinator for the New Mexico Criminal Defense Lawyers, said at the time the bill was being debated in committee that it would not produce the results its sponsor had promised.

"It can have negative consequences for the families of sex offenders," Gouche said. "And, the publication on the Internet can prevent sex offenders from stabilizing their lives, which should be the goal, to prevent recidivism."

Las Cruces defense attorney Jose Coronado said he was recently hired by an 18-year-old man wrongfully charged with criminal sexual penetration of a minor. Coronado said it wasn't until after the man had turned down a proposed plea agreement that it was discovered the age difference between he and the girl was less than the required four years.

"What concerns me is he would have been a sex offender. The guy would have been stuck with that ball and chain around his neck," Coronado said.

Coronado said it's not uncommon for young men to have sex with younger girls, and that the law should better distinguish between that kind of mistake and a more violent crime.

"They may be a first-time offender, but they get that label of sex offender. And sex offenders are the pariah of our society," he said. "They're all painted with the same brush. There's no distinction. They just throw them all in together."

Esparza said he also has concerns with the new law that allows police to charge people with a felony for giving a can of beer or a glass of wine to a minor in their own homes.

"It's a difficult issue, but I think slamming people with a third-degree felony is not the solution," he said.
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