NM governor wants more prison time for people convicted of felonies who face new gun charges

New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham announced a public health order imposing temporary restrictions on firearms on Friday, Sept. 8, 2023, flanked by state and local police officials. (Photo by Austin Fisher / Source NM)

Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham is proposing to once again extend how long someone can be put in prison for possessing a gun when they have already been convicted of a felony.

New Mexico law prohibits someone from having a gun if they’ve been convicted of a felony, battery or property damage against a loved one, stalking , or federal gun charges; or if they’re under a protection order for rape or domestic violence .

If someone has a felony conviction or has served any part of their probation for a felony in the last decade, it is a third-degree felony to be found in possession of a firearm under the current state law.

Other third-degree felonies in New Mexico carry a three-year sentence; being convicted under this part of the law can land someone in prison for up to six years .

A five-page draft bill presented to the Courts, Corrections & Justice Committee on June 26 would make the crime a second-degree felony. That would bring a nine-year sentence on a person’s first conviction, and a 12-year sentence for a second one.

“Creating a statute in New Mexico that can be effective at safely incarcerating dangerous previously convicted offenders, we believe, is a part of the overall solution that cannot wait,” said Benjamin Baker, the governor’s senior public safety advisor.

If lawmakers pass Lujan Grisham’s proposal during a special session on July 18, it would be the fifth time in six years that they’ve amended the felon in possession statute.

State legislators increased the penalty for violating the law in 2018, and expanded the category of who can be charged with the crime in 2019. They lengthened the possible prison sentence in 2020, and then did so again in 2022.

Rep. Micaela Lara Cadena (D-Las Cruces) asked Baker to explain why the governor proposes to increase the maximum sentences compared to the proposal considered in the last regular session that ended in February.

“This problem continues to increase despite actions made by this Legislature to increase penalties and expand the scope,” Baker said.

Proposed prison terms function as mandatory minimums

The draft proposal from Lujan Grisham would also make any sentence ineligible for “good time,” meaning no matter how that person behaves in prison, no matter what programs they take part in, they could not get out early.

Cadena asked Baker about the intent behind the proposed change, and whether it is meant to function as a mandatory minimum sentence. Baker said yes.

Criminal justice advocates have long argued making people serve longer prison sentences does not reduce crime, citing studies showing sentence enhancements and the creation of new crimes, as the governor is proposing here, have little or no deterrent effect on crime.

Harsher sentences do not reduce gun violence, research shows

“While I accept that those studies exist, and I’m aware of their existence, I also believe that there’s multiple facets to the criminal justice system, and deterrence is not the only one,” Baker said. “The community’s safety due to incarceration and separation from the community, so that one can’t reoffend, are an important point that I’d like to raise to the committee.”

Sen. Moe Maestas (D-Albuquerque) said the mandatory minimums as a policy disincentivizes “any good behavior” by incarcerated people.

“Being cognizant of the plight of our corrections officers, our Department of Corrections is thin with regard to workers,” Maestas said. “Our workers are working overtime, and that tiny bit of incentive for the inmate to behave is in the interest of public safety.”

The proposed sentence could result in someone convicted of felon in possession being in prison for longer than someone convicted of vehicular homicide, Maestas said.

“It’s just completely inconsistent with good public policy,” Maestas said.

‘It is a statewide concern’

Baker said “we are failing to both prevent and provide the community safety necessary that exists when a person is incarcerated, instead of being free in the community, to choose to reoffend.”

Baker walked lawmakers through data he cited from the Administrative Office of the Courts showing all felon in possession charges in New Mexico between 2017 and May 31, 2024.

In 2017 and 2018, there were about 1,400 cases per year across the state, Baker said.

In 2019, there were significantly fewer cases, and there were nearly no cases in 2020 and 2021, which Baker attributed to “COVID and the situation that existed there.”

There were 202 cases in 2022, he said.

The most recent annual data from 2023 shows 1,378 cases, “a return statewide in New Mexico to pre-pandemic numbers,” Baker said.

As of May 31, there were 864 cases filed so far in 2024. Baker said he projects by the end of the year there will be a rate “higher than any of the previous seven years.”

“Statewide charging events have increased,” Baker said. “It is a statewide concern.”

Between 2017 and May 31, 2024, 52% of the charges were dismissed in two ways, Baker said.

State prosecutors dismissed 36% of those cases.

In the remaining 14% of the cases, people pleaded guilty to another crime associated with the same incident, in exchange for getting the gun charge dismissed, he said.

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