Second Chance bill will return next year
It is with heavy hearts that the sponsors and advocates for Senate Bill 43 (the Second Chance bill) announce we will be removing the bill from consideration in the New Mexico House of Representatives. This is a decision we do not take lightly but is one we are forced to make to preserve the values on which this important legislation is based. The bill will be reintroduced in the 2023 legislative session, and we are confident it will pass.
We are grateful to the diverse community that has gathered in support of the bill. The list of our supporters has become too long to enumerate. We have been joined by members of the judiciary, faith communities and faith leaders, the pediatric medical community, and a diversity of community and professional organizations.
To all of you, we thank you for your commitment to the ideal that all children deserve hope. Belief in redemption and second chances is something almost everyone claims. But, unfortunately, we have seen this session that not everyone has had the courage to fight for those beliefs.
In the final week of the session, it has been frustrating to watch as a chorus of voices was drowned out by a handful of district attorneys and other parties who have misrepresented this issue to victims of tragedy across our state. While we have negotiated in good faith, these parties have continued to move the goalposts, attempting to amend this bill beyond recognition.
We know from the countless success stories in other states that all children — even those who have committed serious acts of violence — are capable of redemption. This truth cannot and will not be compromised, so we must summon the moral courage to cease negotiations and continue this campaign next year.
When children cause harm in our community, it is important to hold them accountable in age-appropriate ways that leave room for the profound potential they have to experience dramatic positive transformation. We know victims of youth-involved violence in this state have lost something that simply cannot be restored by legislative process. We also know that we do not honor crime victims or their families by failing to acknowledge that children are different and that they can be rehabilitated. We can do both, but it will take honesty and courage. We regret that honesty and courage were lacking by some this session.
We lament that New Mexico has missed the opportunity to become the 26th state to abolish juvenile life without parole. When states like Oregon and West Virginia agree, we know we are not discussing a political issue but a moral one. The political frustrations of this session only embolden our commitment to fighting for reasonable reform. We will continue to fight for New Mexico to join the diverse chorus of states that have acknowledged that children are more than the worst thing they have done.