A wide majority of likely New Mexico voters want to end the state’s loose bail law, which allows accused criminals to be quickly released from jail after their arrests. The law has been on the books since 2017 and was once backed by Democrat Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham.
In 2017, voters approved a constitutional amendment that makes it more difficult for courts to keep accused criminals in jail before their trials. As NBC News has described, the law “almost entirely eliminate[s] cash bail.”
An Albuquerque Journal poll reveals that 85 percent of likely New Mexico voters want to roll back the law to make it easier for courts to lock up accused criminals before their trials. Only four percent said they opposed changing the law.
Across nearly every voting demographic in New Mexico, the Journal states, more than 80 percent of voters want the law changed.
Lujan Grisham backed the law in 2020.
“I support the constitutional amendment that said, ‘You don’t keep poor people behind bars because they’re poor.’ That’s fair, and that belongs in the constitutional amendment,” Lujan Grisham said at the time.
Now, as she faces a tough reelection against Republican Mark Ronchetti, Lujan Grisham says she wants changes to ensure accused violent criminals stay behind bars following their arrests.
The law is now so unpopular that 76 percent of self-identified liberals support changing the law, along with 87 percent of self-identified moderates. About 93 percent of conservative voters said they want the law changed as well.
“Likely voters are clearly expressing some frustration regarding the high crime rate,” said Brian Sanderoff of Research & Polling Inc. “It would still be up to the governor and the Legislature to address the public’s concern in an effective and constitutional manner.”
The biggest drivers of crime in New Mexico, voters told pollsters, are drugs, poverty, and the law allowing the widespread release of accused criminals after their arrests. Minor sentences from state judges are also a major driver of crime, voters said.
The Albuquerque Journal poll surveyed more than 500 likely New Mexico voters from August 19 to August 25 and has a margin of error of +/- 4.3 percentage points.
John Binder is a reporter for Breitbart News. Email him at jbinder@breitbart.com. Follow him on Twitter here.