New Mexico policymakers to tackle criminal code reform

While the Rio Grande Foundation is best known for its work on economic policy issues, we have done a fair amount of work on criminal justice reform. I testified in Santa Fe before an interim committee dealing with criminal justice issues. Criminal justice reform is an important issue for New Mexico’s economy for a number of reasons. Obviously, it is very costly and directly impacts both the victims and the people who get sucked into the system. Then, there is the issue that New Mexico is the 4th-most dangerous state in the country according to a recent report. That’s not going to attract many businesses to our fair state.

The good news is that the Legislature will be tackling a variety of criminal justice-related reforms. The Santa Fe New Mexican had an interesting story about the effort which also included some information on Right on Crime and my involvement along with that of Rio Grande Foundation co-founder Hal Stratton.