A little good news from our neihbor to the west

[Red Oak]

New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez signed a bill to abolish civil asset forfeiture Friday.

She signed just before the noon deadline that would have pocket vetoed the legislation.

“As an attorney and career prosecutor, I understand how important it is that we ensure safeguards are in place to protect our constitutional rights,” Martinez said in a letter announcing her decision. “On balance, the changes made by this legislation improve the transparency and accountability of the forfeiture process and provide further protections to innocent property owners.”

Civil asset forfeiture is a practice where police can seize your property and keep it even if they don’t convict or charge you with a crime. Then, you must go through the difficult, and often unsuccessful process to get your property–whether it’s a vehicle, cash or your home–back from the police.

The new law makes two important changes:

1. Currently, when police seize property they can keep it even if you are innocent. Under the new law, police can still take property from you for a short period, but would need a conviction or a guilty plea in order to keep it.

2. The law changes the incentive structure for police. Under the new law, if police do get a guilty verdict and your property is forfeited, it goes to the state’s general fund rather than the police department’s budget. The difference at least adds a layer of bureaucracy and oversight between police and the funds they seize.

[ann jusko]

I've seen a couple interviews with her. I was impressed and amused. Some republicans asked her to lunch. She was a democrat and thought she knew what they were up to. But she told her husband it would be a nice lunch, but she was a democrat. When the Republicans presented their ideas and how she could help....she agreed with their principals and plans. She said she said to her husband when they left "Damn! We've been republicans and just didn't know it!" I do like her.