Governor should sign Second Chance Bill
Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham can give children who commit crimes the opportunity for a life of purpose as adults by signing the so-called Second Chance Bill. Senate Bill 64 doesn’t guarantee youthful offenders will be set free, but it does offer them hope and the possibility of redemption.
By ending the possibility of life sentences without parole — in New Mexico that means a lifer can receive a parole hearing after serving 30 years — for crimes committed as children, we will be recognizing children deserve to be treated differently than adult criminals. That’s in line with the best practices for dealing with juvenile criminals. It tempers justice with mercy.
People who cause harm must be held accountable, but the very youngest criminals need the opportunity to redeem themselves. They deserve a second chance.
The U.S. Supreme Court has established “children are constitutionally different from adults in their levels of culpability” when considering sentences. The court has ruled juveniles cannot be sentenced to death and have banned the use of life without parole for juveniles not convicted of homicide.
In each decision, justices have made it clear youth matters when deciding a sentence.
That’s because children are not like adults. Research into the adolescent brain has concluded what is obvious — children are immature and lack decision-making capability. However, their bad decisions can cause great harm, and the feelings of their victims and their victims’ families also needed to be taken into account.
To the sponsors’ credit, they heard the criticism of opponents and reworked the legislation.
The 2023 legislation is a product of compromise — a similar bill was pulled in 2022 because of opposition from prosecutors and victims of violent crimes. The New Mexico District Attorneys Association stayed neutral this year, which could be one reason the legislation received bipartisan support in the state Senate. In the House, only Democrats supported the bill; all Republicans voted against.
The law would ban the use of a life without parole sentence for juveniles while also allowing parole hearings for many who have served 15 years of their sentences. But not all those behind bars would be eligible for a hearing after 15 years.
Taking the type of crime into account is significant. It’s an important gesture to families who are serving their own life sentences of grief.
Individuals convicted of deliberate first-degree murder would have to wait 20 years to see a parole board, and those convicted of first-degree murder for killing more than one victim, 25 years. This is not a get-out-of-jail free card. And it shouldn’t be.
Currently, no one is in prison in New Mexico as a juvenile is serving a life sentence with no prospect of parole. There are, however, about 75 inmates who could have earlier parole hearings because of this legislation. They will get their second chance. Or at least an opportunity for a second chance.
Across the country, about 25 states and the District of Columbia have abolished juvenile life without parole. New Mexico should join them.