Appeal on monetary bonds to be heard
Santa Fe New Mexican – A federal appeals court in Denver is scheduled to hear oral arguments Tuesday in the New Mexico bail bonds industry’s legal challenge to reforms that essentially eliminated monetary bonds in New Mexico in the last few years.
The Bail Bond Association of New Mexico and five state lawmakers filed the class action lawsuit in 2017, contesting the constitutionality of new rules governing the imposition of monetary bonds after voters approved a constitutional amendment that made it legal for judges to hold dangerous defendants without bond but illegal to keep indigent defendants in jail simply because they couldn’t afford bail.
The industry claims the new rules, which greatly reduced the imposition of money bonds on criminal defendants, violate defendants’ protected rights to reasonable bond.
U.S. District Judge Robert A. Junell dismissed the lawsuit in 2017, saying it was based on a misinterpretation of the law and lacked legal merit.
“While the United States Constitution and the New Mexico Constitution forbid excessive bail,” he wrote, “they do not guarantee an absolute right to bail or money bail.”
Junell even sanctioned Albuquerque lawyer A. Blair Dunn for filing the case, saying it was frivolous and that Dunn — who was a candidate for New Mexico attorney general — appeared to have filed it for political reasons.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit recently disallowed a similar challenge to New Jersey’s no-money bond system, finding there is no right to monetary bail.
But plaintiffs are forging ahead, hoping in part that the U.S. Supreme Court might agree to examine the issue in the future.
“A favorable decision for the plaintiffs by the [Denver-based] 10th Circuit… will almost certainly guarantee a trip to the U.S. Supreme Court,” the American Bail Coalition said in a news release Monday. “If the plaintiffs were to lose the case, they might also appeal to the Supreme Court. The highest court in the land has not touched the issue of bail in more than 30 years.”
Dunn said Monday his clients are “more likely than not” to appeal the case to the high court if they lose in Denver but won’t decide until after reading the court’s ruling.
“If we don’t lose everything, and we do pick up some points… it may warrant making that decision to drive legislative change in New Mexico rather than expending the resources to go to the Supreme Court,” Dunn said.
Administrative Office of the Courts Director Arthur Pepin said in an email Monday the lawsuit is an attempt by the bail bond industry to “turn back the clock on bail reform efforts approved by voters that enhance justice, fairness and public safety.”
“Because New Mexico has moved away from a money-based bail system, dangerous defendants no longer can buy their freedom with a bail bond despite the risk they could pose to the safety of our citizens,” Pepin said. “A ruling over a year ago by a federal district court judge recognized the lawfulness of New Mexico’s reform of the pretrial justice system.”
Source: US Government Class
