I am writing today to announce the closure of the New Mexico Independent. After three and a half years of operation in New Mexico, the board of the American Independent News Network, has decided to shift publication of its news…
While environmental activists played their part yesterday during demonstrations at the capitol building, going so far as to dress up as solar panels and to sing the tune of “You Are My Sunshine,” their counterparts, the anti-cap-and-trade contingency who has…
Roughly one quarter of University of New Mexico students are unimpressed with the state’s flagship public school, according to a survey that questioned college students about their higher education experiences.
A law that would require police to collect DNA from those arrested for all felonies, an expansion from the current law which only designates certain felonies, unanimously passed the Senate Public Affairs committee Tuesday. Gov. Susana Martinez testified on behalf of the law.
Martinez was the prosecutor on the case of Katie Sepich, for whom “Katie’s Law” is named. Sepich was raped and murdered by a stranger in 2003, and the case was eventually solved three years later because of DNA evidence.
“Passing this bill through the Public Affairs Committee is a critical first step toward making New Mexico’s communities safer,” Martinez said in a statement after the committee passed the bill. “I’m encouraged by the continuing strong bipartisan support to expand Katie’s Law and give law enforcement the best possible tools to prevent crime and convict criminals.”
The bill, SB 365, passed the committee 8-0. A companion bill in the House, HB 256 has not yet been heard in a committee.
Martinez sat with Jayann Sepich, the mother of Katie Sepich, in front of the committee.
Currently the law only allows police to take DNA from those arrested for certain violent crimes like kidnapping, murder or rape. The new expansion will require that DNA be collected from all those arrested in New Mexico for felonies.
