Lawmakers and bondsmen challenge court’s bail policy
Lawsuit maintains right to pay bail without waiting for judge to release suspects
group of bail bondsmen and several state legislators are suing the New Mexico Supreme Court, challenging a new policy that calls on courts to release suspects before trial without having to pay any money if they are not a threat to public safety.
The case is a direct challenge to rules that proponents say will ensure the poor are not locked up in jail simply because they are accused of a crime and cannot afford to post bail.
But the lawsuit maintains that suspects should have a right to pay bail if they can without waiting in jail for a judge to decide whether they can be released for free or under conditions that might be more restrictive than what
a bondsman would impose.
The case centers on Darlene Collins, a 61-year-old Albuquerque woman arrested July 1 on suspicion of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon following reports of a domestic disturbance.
The lawsuit says her family was prepared to pay bail to set her free after she was arrested on a Friday before a long holiday weekend.
But according to the lawsuit, she instead spent almost five full days in jail and was hospitalized before her arraignment.
A judge released her for free, the lawsuit says, but her lawyer argues she should have had the right to pay to get out of jail sooner.
“Had the new rules not prevented the posting of a jailhouse bond, she then would have enjoyed her full pre-arraignment liberty necessary to take care of her medical needs without placing her life in jeopardy, just like any other presumptively innocent member of society.”
Albuquerque lawyer A. Blair Dunn filed the case in federal court on behalf of Collins, the Bail Bond Association of New Mexico and five legislators — including two Democrats from Northern New Mexico, Sen. Richard Martinez and Rep. Carl Trujillo.
The lawsuit asks a judge strike down the state Supreme Court’s new rules on bail, which allow judges to hold defendants in jail without bond if they are considered dangerous.
The lawsuit does not challenge that policy. Instead, the lawsuit asks a judge to strike down the part of the policy that calls on courts to release suspects without having to pay any money if they are not a threat to public safety.
Bail reform advocates had pushed the Legislature to embrace similar rules. But the most progressive proposals floundered at the Capitol amid heavy lobbying from the bail industry. Nonetheless, legislators agreed to a constitutional amendment allowing the Supreme Court to change the bail system.
Voters overwhelmingly approved the amendment during last year’s general election, but the lawsuit contends the court went too far.
“Courts exist to resolve these types of disputes,” said Barry Massey, a spokesman for the Administrative Office of the Courts. “It would be inappropriate to comment on the merits of the lawsuit because this is a pending legal matter.”