New Mexico Attorney General candidate Raúl Torrez visited Taos the evening of May 13 to meet with voters and make a pitch for his candidacy. He is currently the Bernalillo County District Attorney in New Mexico.
Torrez spoke to a crowd of about 20 people at the Taos Pueblo Cultural Center on Paseo del Pueblo Norte about his views on the need to increase the AG’s budget for litigations, challenging his own party for more funding and higher standards, and recruiting to the AG’s office from a more diverse pool of law students.
Torrez focused a part of his talk on the so-called “cycle of crime” in New Mexico, explaining how it usually begins with troubled kids born into broken homes, not doing well in the public school system, and eventually jumping into the criminal underworld as a way to make a living.
“The story is almost always the same,” Torrez said. “I guarantee you today, in Albuquerque, we sent someone’s parent to prison today. On Monday when that school opens and that little boy or girl goes to school, you know what we’re going to do with that child? Nothing. Their mom or dad is in prison, we are going to do nothing, and they’re going to start acting out. Well, who would have thought they would act out when their dad’s in prison? Maybe their mom’s addicted, Grandma’s in charge, she can’t handle it, she can’t keep an eye on them. He starts to get in trouble, he gets expelled, he’s out on the street. What does he do? He tries to replace the family he lost in his house with the family he finds in the street. Who knows who he finds in the street? Other kids just like him… This is the story, this is the story of crime and poverty and trauma in New Mexico… [as DA] I’m dealing with the traumatized children of 20 years ago.”
A video of Torrez speaking at this event can be viewed on Facebook at the following URL.
https://www.facebook.com/cj.bernal.18/videos/462255405667759
The primary election will be held on June 7. Early voting is now open. Information on voter registration can be found at New Mexico’s Secretary of State website.
https://www.sos.state.nm.us/voting-and-elections/voter-information-portal/
