NM Governor Susana Martinez Wants to Grant Police Special Immunities

Republican governor Susana Martinez is in the process of passing legislature that would give police officers in the state protection from lawsuits regarding the use of excessive force against suspects.

“I don’t believe that police officers should be under this constant threat of lawsuits that will often cause them to pause,” Martinez said to a group of interviewers. “If they’re following their training, there should be something that protects them.”

However, the bill would also make it next to impossible for rogue cops to be punished for using excessive force. According to Steven Robert Allen, the public policy director for the American Civil Liberties Union in New Mexico, said that “Any requirement that we lay an additional immunity for police officers makes absolutely no sense,” said Robert Allen. “No one is saying police officers should not be allowed to use reasonable force when their safety is in jeopardy. Excessive force is being used by police officers over and over again…and those officers are not being held accountable.”

Allen went on to denounce the governor’s bill, claiming the governor was proposing the legislation for political reasons, as an attempt to distract New Mexicans from the root cause of the crime and violence.

Martinez released her proposal on Monday. The bill suggests that penalties for committing felonies be increased and that the death sentence be reinstated for those who kill police officers.

“New Mexicans have seen officers gunned down by thugs and children killed by monsters,” Martinez said in an official press release. “It is time we say enough is enough. If you kill an officer or a child, you deserve the ultimate punishment.”

Martinez’s office has not yet responded to any comments made by press or concerned citizens about the bill.