New Mexico鈥檚 criminal justice system . The courts, the public prosecutors and defenders, they鈥檝e all said they don鈥檛 have enough money or staff to process cases fast enough. Growing backlogs, people and details falling through the cracks鈥攖hose complaints are common. Lawmakers are weighing a bill that would pull minor offenses out of the court system.
The lowest, most petty crimes on the books. That鈥檚 how state describes the misdemeanors he wants to turn into non-arrestable offenses. People wouldn鈥檛 end up in cuffs for littering, riding a horse on a dark highway, jaywalking鈥攁nd a host of other infractions along those lines.
"If we鈥檙e taking arguably corny crimes off the books, we鈥檙e still holding these folks accountable, but we鈥檙e not wasting valuable and expensive resources on them so that we can focus on violent offenders," he said.
People would still get tickets, and the measure would increase fines. But the goal, Maestas said, is to free up officers, judges, prosecutors and defenders to focus on serious crimes.
Gov. Susana Martinez vetoed a similar effort last year, even though both the House and Senate passed it almost unanimously. And Maestas acknowledged that rolling in with a bunch of others as part of an could sink the whole thing.
The measure passed the House and is heading to Senate committee.
