Reducing spending while improving safety: it can be done

While many conservative states and conservatives have followed the “lock em up” approach to criminal justice, we at the Rio Grande Foundation were pleased to participate in and support a new approach to conservative criminal justice from a group called “Right on Crime.” In today’s Albuquerque Journal, RGF co-founder and former NM attorney general Hal Stratton and Jerry Madden, former Corrections Committee Chairman, had an opinion piece detailing ways in which New Mexico might both save taxpayer dollars and make New Mexico a safer place. I testified before the same legislative committee as Rep. Madden and you can see that testimony here.

Notably, New Mexico is a relatively high crime state, so we have much to do: