Journal Poll: Majority of voters favor cracking down on juvenile offenders

With violent juvenile crime escalating in Albuquerque and elsewhere in New Mexico, most Albuquerque voters want tougher sentences for youth offenders, a new Journal Poll found.

A total of 72% of voters surveyed said they supported increasing criminal penalties for juvenile offenders convicted of certain violent crimes, with 17% opposed. Five percent surveyed responded it “depends,” with 6% either undecided or don’t know or declined to say.

“Nearly three-quarters of Albuquerque likely voters support increasing penalties for juvenile crime,” said Brian Sanderoff, the president of Albuquerque-based Research & Polling Inc., which conducted the poll. “That’s not a surprise, given the amount of publicity that there’s been on this topic. There have been very public, horrific events that have occurred involving juvenile crimes.”

Last month, officials with the Bernalillo County Youth Services Center, a 78-bed juvenile detention facility in Albuquerque, reported that 37% of the center’s population was charged with murder.

Moreover, the Bernalillo County District Attorney’s Office reported a 57% increase in cases involving juvenile criminal defendants from 2022 to 2023. But the latest effort to overhaul the state Children’s Code earlier this year ended without any legislation being passed.

Among the voting public in Albuquerque, however, there’s strong support for more punitive measures to combat especially violent juvenile crime.

The Journal Poll showed a slightly greater share of Hispanic voters than Anglo voters surveyed supported increased penalties for juveniles convicted of certain crimes, “with younger voters less supportive than other age groups,” said Sanderoff.

Of those surveyed, 53% of those 18 to 34 years old supported increasing penalties, while among those ages 50 and up, 76% favored tougher sentencing laws for juveniles.

While a majority of voters from all educational attainment levels support tougher sentences, those with a college degree or graduate degree are much more likely to be opposed (23%) compared to those without a college degree (8%).

Of those who disapproved of Mayor Tim Keller’s handling of his job as mayor, 88% supported tougher sentencing, while 56% of those who said they approved of his handling of the office supported increased penalties.

“Regardless of one’s political affiliation, the majority of Democrats (61%), Republicans (91%) and independents (68%) support increasing penalties; however, Democrats are less supportive,” Sanderoff said.

“The overall political outlook of the voters is a big predictor of feelings on this topic, as 92% of conservatives supported tougher sentencing compared to 48% who identified as liberal,” Sanderoff said.

Democratic Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham has voiced support for updating state laws to reflect the growing problem of juveniles committing crimes with firearms, but some progressive Democrats have pushed back, advocating alternatives to increasing penalties.

During the 60-day legislative session earlier this year, for instance, the House Public Affairs Committee voted 4-2 along party lines to table a proposed overhaul of the state Children’s Code, with two Republicans opposing the action.

The bill, HB 134, would have expanded the definition of youthful offender, allowing prosecutors to respond to violent youth crimes and seek harsher punishments, according to the Administrative Office of the District Attorneys. Juveniles would have faced potentially longer stints on probation.

Less than two weeks later, Albuquerque police arrested four teens accused of intentionally crashing a car into a man riding his bicycle to work in 2024. One was on juvenile probation at the time.

An 11-year-old boy, a 16-year-old, a 15-year-old and a 13-year-old alleged driver of the vehicle were accused of participating in the crime, which resulted in the death of Scott Dwight Habermehl on May 29, 2024. Habermehl, 63, was riding his bike to work at Sandia National Laboratories around 4:40 a.m. when he was struck by the car, which police say was stolen.

The boys recorded the crash from inside the car as the driver swerved onto a dedicated bike lane and struck Habermehl. The teens saw the flashing light on the bicycle and audio of the recording indicated they planned to hit the bicyclist, Albuquerque police have said.

Methodology

The Journal Poll is based on a random sample of 514 voters who cast ballots in the 2021 and/or 2023 local government election, and a sample of adults who registered to vote since January 2024 and who said they are likely to vote in the upcoming local government election.

To ensure a representative sample, Research & Polling Inc. sets quotas for race, gender and age, and weights by education level and party affiliation, if necessary, based on traditional voting patterns in local government elections.

The poll was conducted Sept. 19 through Sept. 26. The voter sample size of 514 has a margin of error of plus or minus 4.4 percentage points. The margin of error grows for subsamples.

All interviews were conducted by live, professional interviewers, based in Albuquerque, with multiple callbacks to individuals that did not initially answer the phone.

Both cellphone numbers (96%) and landlines (4%) of likely voters were used.