By Susan Montoya Bryan
Associated Press
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — New Mexico lawmakers are considering legislation designed to curb solitary confinement in jails and prisons across the state.
Judiciary committees in the House and Senate are expected Friday to debate measures prohibiting the use of solitary confinement for inmates younger than 18, pregnant females and those who have a serious mental illness.
Supporters of the change say segregating such inmates is expensive — a factor lawmakers are being forced to weigh as the state grapples with a budget shortfall.
Others say there’s no way to quantify the costs of having such inmates in the general population, noting that could lead to more altercations and the need for more guards.
The legislation would also require regular reporting by all correctional facilities on the number of inmates held in isolation.
“We’re not asking for the world here. We’re asking for something reasonable,” said Matthew Coyte, an Albuquerque attorney and president of the New Mexico Criminal Defense Lawyers Association.
Coyte has won numerous high-dollar judgments in recent years against county jails for the mistreatment of inmates while in solitary confinement. Most recently, Eddy County agreed to pay $1.9 million to settle the case of an inmate held for months in a cell without a bed or toilet.
Coyte said his cases represent just a fraction of the “outrageous examples” of how solitary confinement is used within local and state correctional systems.
“It just seems to be ongoing. That’s why we need the law,” he said. “Either we’re going to have a lawsuit that stops it or we need a statute to stop it, but we can’t rely on the jails to stop it on their own.”
The New Mexico Corrections Department and counties have raised concerns about the legislation. They say without the ability to segregate inmates, there will be an increase in altercations and that could result in more claims being filed.
Critics also say requiring reporting on the use of segregation will result in additional costs.
Nationally, a number of states have reformed their restrictive housing policies to result in fewer inmates in segregation.
The U.S. Justice Department in 2015 began an extensive look at solitary confinement, finding that there are occasions when correctional officers have no choice but to separate inmates from the general population to ensure the safety of inmates and staff. The agency also issued policy recommendations and guidelines, stating that the practice should be used rarely.
The Justice Department in its report pointed to Colorado, Washington and New Mexico as states that have instituted reforms.
In New Mexico, in the years following 1980 when one of the nation’s most violent prison riots rocked the state correctional system, officials turned to segregation in response to all manner of threats. That resulted in the greater use of segregation for discipline.
In 2012, then-Corrections Secretary Gregg Marcantel partnered with the Vera Institute of Justice to evaluate the use of solitary confinement. Researchers found that about 11 percent of state prisoners were in segregation and about 75 percent of those were inactive gang members in protective custody. They found an overuse of segregation as a disciplinary sanction and a lack of alternative sanctions.
In response, the state reduced the use segregation for protective custody and eliminated long-term protective custody segregation. Prisoners can no longer serve more than 30 days in disciplinary segregation.
The Corrections Department also established programs so inmates could interact and get drug treatment, education or job skills. The department also created programs aimed at treating and rehabilitating mentally ill inmates.
As of early 2016, the Corrections Department reported that 6.5 percent of its population was in segregation.