Dear Senators,

I am very pleased that New Mexico is poised to become one of over 30 states to look at and pass “Castle Doctrine” legislation.  I am writing to ask for your support and vote to pass this bill.  As you know “Recidivism” rates across the country are very high.  (See below)

Two studies come closest to providing “national” recidivism rates for the United States. One tracked 108,580 State prisoners released from prison in 11 States in 1983. The other tracked 272,111 prisoners released from prison in 15 States in 1994. The prisoners tracked in these studies represent two-thirds of all the prisoners released in the United States for that year.

Rearrest within 3 years:

• 67.5% of prisoners released in 1994 were rearrested within 3 years, an increase over the 62.5% found for those released in 1983
• The rearrest rate for property offenders, drug offenders, and public-order offenders increased significantly from 1983 to 1994. During that time, the rearrest rate increased:

o    from 68.1% to 73.8% for property offenders

o    from 50.4% to 66.7% for drug offenders

o    from 54.6% to 62.2% for public-order offender

The rearrest rate for violent offenders remained relatively stable (59.6% in 1983 compared to 61.7% in 1994).

Re-conviction within 3 years:

• Overall, re-conviction rates did not change significantly from 1983 to 1994. Among, prisoners released in 1983, 46.8% were re-convicted within 3 years compared to 46.9% among those released in 1994. From 1983 to 1994, re-conviction rates remained stable for released:

o    violent offenders (41.9% and 39.9%, respectively)

o    property offenders (53.0% and 53.4%)

o    public-order offenders (41.5% and 42.0%)

• Among drug offenders, the rate of re-conviction increased significantly, going from 35.3% in 1983 to 47.0% in 1994.

Returned to prison within 3 years:

The 1994 recidivism study estimated that within 3 years, 51.8% of prisoners released during the year were back in prison either because of a new crime for which they received another prison sentence, or because of a technical violation of their parole. This rate was not calculated in the 1983 study.

BJS Sources:
Recidivism of Prisoners Released in 1983, April, 1989
Recidivism of Prisoners Released in 1994, June, 2002.

Additionally , it is frightening to see just how many convicted felons live amongst us in our neighborhoods.  Take the above Recidivism statistics and then look to see how many convicted felons live in our neighborhoods and it is clearly obvious that the Castle Doctrine law will allow law abiding citizens to protect themselves, their loved ones and their property.

See Convicted felons near where you live here:   http://www.felonspy.com/search.html

Just type in a street name at the top of the form & your whole neighborhood map will pop up.

Every place you see a RED BALLOON or RED THUMB TACK is the home of a “Convicted Felon!!

Just place your mouse over an icon & not only will the name come up, but also the crime they were convicted of.

The passage of SB220 is vital to what our founding fathers stated in our Declaration of Independence that all people are born with Unalienable Rights; “Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness”.  You clearly can’t pursue happiness if you are dead from a violent repeat offender in your home or vehicle.  Most police departments and police will admit that very rarely do they ever arrive at a crime in time to affect the outcome….except to count the bodies and access the damage at the “Crime Scene”.

Clearly personal protection is a personal responsibility!

To date New Mexico has a great track record of supporting the 2^nd Amendment and has been supportive of licensing for concealed carry permit holders.  The passage of SB 220 is a logical progression to the thousands of concealed carry permit holders in the state.

I was appalled to read in the Albuquerque Journal on (Jan 22nd) about (2) APS custodians that were arrested for theft of TV’s and computers while working in one of the Albuquerque Public Schools. One of the offenders had been convicted of “Armed Robbery” and ONLY received 1 year of probation.  No jail time and he walks the streets of Albuquerque!   I continue to be very alarmed at the number of people that have been convicted of violent offenses that receive no or little jail time and continue to walk amongst us and unleash their WRATH on law abiding citizens at will.

I live in the NE Heights area of Albuquerque and we have recently had a HUGE increase in home invasions and break-ins in many homes.  A house just 4 away from mine was broken into 3 weeks ago and had thousands of dollars worth of possessions stolen and their cars was vandalized.

Again, as a resident of the state in an area where there have been several home invasions I am asking you to support and vote for SB220

Thanks in advance for your support.

Sincerely,

Winston Dorian