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Committee updates nonconsensual‑touching language to remove clothing requirement
Summary
House Bill 87 would clarify New Mexico’s nonconsensual‑touching statute so that a defendant can be charged even if contact occurred while a victim was clothed; the committee advanced the measure unanimously after the sponsor described constituent concerns.
Representative Hockman B. Hill introduced House Bill 87 to clarify the statute governing nonconsensual touching. The sponsor said the current wording in state law, which historically treated touching “without clothing” differently in certain provisions, led to situations in which inappropriate or coerced contact while clothed would not be captured consistently.
“My constituent told me her child was the victim of an unwanted assault, and she discovered that the statute’s current text treats unclothed contact differently,” Representative Hockman B. Hill said. The sponsor asked the committee to consider whether the statute should be modernized to reflect contemporary understanding of consent and coercion.
Testimony in support came from advocates and the Greater Albuquerque Chamber of Commerce, which filed written remarks urging modernization of the language; witnesses said most states either do not condition the offense on clothing or explicitly make dress irrelevant. Committee members discussed where the law draws lines between inadvertent or casual contact and coercive or forceful contact and asked that the statute preserve common‑sense defenses for accidental touch while ensuring coercive acts are prosecutable.
The committee moved and seconded a do‑pass recommendation and recorded no opposition; the committee chair announced the bill passed out of committee on a 6‑0 vote.
