There’s a proposal on the table to add some people convicted of sex crimes against children to the list of those eligible for the death penalty in New Mexico.
Those convicted of a second, violent sex crime against a child would be the first non-murderers eligible for the death penalty in the state under a proposal announced Monday by Rep. Dan Foley, R-Roswell.
Foley said he and Sen. Rod Adair, R-Roswell, will introduce the legislation in January. South Carolina and Oklahoma enacted similar laws last week, joining three other states that have already done so.
“We were the last ones to pass Megan’s Law,” Foley said. “We have the chance to be one of the first states to pass this.”
The federal Megan’s Law allows police agencies to notify the public of convicted sex offenders living or working in their communities. It was passed in 1996.
One outstanding detail in Foley’s proposal is the definition of “violent.”
“That’s the million-dollar question that we’re doing research on,” Foley said. “My opinion is that if you’re convicted of molesting a child for the second time, you should be eligible for the death penalty.”
Foley said the proposal would stick with the state’s definition of a child as someone under the age of 18. In Oklahoma, the law applies to children under 14. In South Carolina, it’s under 11.
Doña Ana County District Attorney Susana Martinez said state law defines rape of a child as a violent sex crime. Molestation is not defined as such, but a judge can designate any sex crime against a child as violent based upon individual circumstance.
“Anyone who violently molests a child twice should get a greater penalty – at a minimum, life in prison – but it’s sad that we don’t have a tougher penalty for killing your child,” Martinez said.
The current penalty for intentional, fatal child abuse is life in prison, which in New Mexico means 30 years without the possibility of parole. Negligent child abuse resulting in death and negligent or intentional child abuse resulting in great bodily harm carry a maximum penalty of 18 years in prison.
The constitutionality of the new laws enacted in other states will surely be challenged. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 1977 that imposing the death penalty for the rape of an adult was unconstitutional. You can read more about the debate from the New York Times.