NEW MEXICO (KRQE) – The New Mexico Supreme Court ruled that the New Mexico Corrections Department (NMCD) violated a prisoner’s right to procedural due process by prohibiting an appeal when it denied good time credits for the inmate completing a drug rehabilitation program.
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The department was ordered to award 30 days of good time to Donovan Houidobre for completing the Residential Drug Abuse Program (RDAP). He previously received good time credits against his sentence for previously participating in a program called Therapeutic Communities (TC).
According to the NM Supreme Court, NMCD deemed that the programs were the same and that Houidobre did not qualify for additional good time for completing the RDAP. Departmental rules prevented the inmate from seeking an agency review of the good time denial, the court found.
As a result, the court also ruled that New Mexico’s prison system needs to establish procedures for prisoners who want to appeal how much good time they are owed.