Power

New Mexico Republicans Push Bill to Reinstate Death Penalty

HB 7 permits the execution of inmates with an IQ above 70, a standard the U.S. Supreme Court found unconstitutional in 2014.

The New Mexico House of Representatives is expected to vote as early as Wednesday on House Bill 7, which reinstates the death penalty in cases involving the murder of a juvenile, police officer, or jail employee. Shutterstock

New Mexico Republicans are pushing to reinstate the death penalty with legislation that requires a medical examination of pregnant people facing execution, and unconstitutionally uses an IQ score as “evidence of intellectual disabilities.”

The New Mexico House of Representatives is expected to vote as early as Wednesday on HB 7, which reinstates the death penalty in cases involving the murder of a juvenile, police officer, or jail employee.

The bill allows a temporary suspension of the death penalty during pregnancy, and an earlier version of HB 7 required three doctors to examine in court a person who is believed to be pregnant. That provision was watered down slightly, so the examination can take place outside of court.

HB 7 also prohibits the execution of inmates with an IQ of 70 or below, calling the score “presumptive evidence of intellectual disabilities.” The U.S. Supreme Court in 2014 found the test standard unconstitutional, noting that “intellectual capacity is a condition, not a number.” An earlier version of the bill called these individuals “mentally retarded,” a term that was replaced in an amended version on Monday.

The amended legislation cleared the House Finance and Appropriations Committee Monday night, with Democrats in party-line opposition, as the Sante Fe New Mexican reported. It now heads to the full House, where Republicans hold a majority.

Daniel Marzac, press secretary for the House Democratic leadership, told Rewire in a phone interview the new amendments “address the archaic language, but not the underlying issues.”

“There’s still the examination by three doctors and it still leaves open pretty vaguely the type of lethal injection that can be used,” Marzac said.

The amended bill doesn’t specify the type or brand of lethal drug, instead allowing any “substance … in a quantity sufficient to cause death.”

More than 20 U.S. and European drug companies have barred the use of their products for lethal injection, causing delays and legal problems for death-penalty states, as the New York Times reported.

Republicans advanced the measure during a special session meant to deal with the state’s projected $458 million budget shortfall.

Steven Robert Allen, director of public policy for the American Civil Liberties Union of New Mexico, called the measure an ill-timed “mistake and a distraction” in a cash-strapped state facing severe program cuts.

“There’s an irony in putting forward this bill when we’re in a situation when behavioral health and education are being cut,” he told Rewire via phone.

New Mexico repealed the death penalty in 2009 because it proved too costly and was used only once in 31 years, according to a legislative Fiscal Impact Report. The report puts the one-year outlay for HB 7 at $1.5 million.

Rep. Monica Youngblood (R-Albuquerque), one of the bill’s authors, called the cost projections inflated and based on miscalculations, as the Santa Fe New Mexican reported.