BernCo District Attorney Raul Torrez is again diving into the debate over bail reform, announcing he wants a state constitutional amendment that would undo one approved by voters in 2016.

His amendment would make certain violent offenders prove that they should not be jailed.

The amendment has little chance of passing and Torrez did not announce what lawmaker (s) would be carrying the measure at the next legislative session that would have to approve it before sending it to voters in 2020.

Dem Torrez is up for election the same year and if crime remains high, the chances increase for a strong foe to emerge.

A legislator supportive of the DA told us sponsorship of the amendment is "to be determined."

Social media blasted away at the DA's proposal, with a number of critics saying he is again trying to get off the hook by blaming the judges and not doing his job which is to prove to the judges why someone needs to be behind bars.

Attorney A. Blair Dunn, a Republican turned Libertarian, came with this:

. . . I get that prosecutors want to put the bad guys in jail, but we have a system of justice that presumes that you are innocent until proven guilty not that you are guilty until you are proven innocent. That is precisely why the 8th Amendment to the United States Constitution says "Excessive bail shall not be required. . . ." 

You are wrong to blame the lower court judges for a system that was messed up not by the Constitutional Amendment but by the Supreme Court rules. Put aside the liberal agenda, the politicking and do your job, Albuquerque is being torn apart by crime that starts with low level offenders that are being caught and released . . . Enough BS. Grow a spine and start figuring out how to get convictions on the backlog of crimes that are in warrant status because they were set free with no bond.

Attorney Pete Dinelli, a Dem, and a former BernCo Chief Deputy District Attorney, also panned the proposal:

This is really back ass backwards and embarrassing when it comes to our constitutional rights of presumption of innocence until proven guilty by the prosecution. DA Torrez wants to shift the burden of proof to the accused with a presumption that a person who is merely charged with a violent crime is therefore violent and the accused must prove they are not an immediate danger to the public or be held in jail until trial. The questions that needs to be answered is where did this guy get his law degree and did he fail constitutional law?

Others argue that the crime epidemic has persisted for a number of years, both when we had the old bail system and the new system under the constitutional amendment.

Others say that Torrez has it right, that judges have been too hard on his office and under the amendment are letting repeat offenders flood the streets.

THE POLITICS

As we've often noted, the stubborn crime wave has created thin ice for both Torrez and his fellow fortysomething Dem, ABQ Mayor Tim Keller. It may not be that they won't be able to keep their current jobs if this issue isn't resolved, it's their prospects of going on to higher office that could be in jeopardy.

It should be noted that it was under the eight year run of Republican ABQ Mayor Richard Berry that crime began to soar and when the public (especially the business community) and the media failed to hold him accountable. It's safe to say that Berry wiil never again hold public office, but his sour legacy continues to make him part of the political future.

SECOND HALF WIN?

APD Chief Geier

The second half of this year could be critical in determining the course of the crime wave that officials assert has has subsided somewhat but still persists.

City Councilor Pat Davis says in a campaign newsletter for his re-election that under the  budget approved by the council this week, that beginning July 1 APD will have about 985 officers. That's up from the department's low point in the 840 area. And by July 2020 Davis says the department should have 1,053 officers, if hiring goals are met.

(Davis has one election opponent--attorney Gina Naomi Dennis.)

Will that be enough to determine by year's end whether simply adding more police will make a major dent in crime, including the outbreak of shooting violence?

The Mayor and Council believe the extra cops will finally deliver results. If so, it will be a cause for celebration. If not there will be much hand-wringing over city policy and policing.

This is the home of New Mexico politics.

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(c)NM POLITICS WITH JOE MONAHAN 2019