SANTA FE, NM—Today, Republican Representative Zachary J. Cook introduced a bill designed to end civil asset forfeiture—also known as “policing for profit”—in New Mexico. This unfair practice allows police to seize and keep property of citizens who haven’t even been charged with a crime, never mind convicted. Rep. Cook’s legislation would end the legal fiction of civil forfeiture—that property can be responsible for a crime—and replaces it with criminal forfeiture. Criminal forfeiture requires a conviction of a person as a prerequisite to losing property tied to the crime.

“Even in cases where a person has not been convicted, or even accused of a crime, the police can seize personal property and keep it for their own gain,” said Paul Gessing, President of the Rio Grande Foundation. “This practice should outrage any American who values the property rights guaranteed to them by the Fifth Amendment of the Constitution.”
Bipartisan legislation has already been introduced in both houses of Congress that would dramatically reform federal civil asset forfeiture laws. The Fifth Amendment Integrity Restoration (FAIR) Act has been introduced in the Senate by Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY), Sen. Angus King (I-ME) and Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT). In the House, Rep. Tim Walberg (R-MI), Rep. Scott Garrett (R-NJ), Rep. Tony Cárdenas (D-CA), Rep. Keith Ellison (D-MN) and Rep. Tom McClintock (R-CA) introduced an identical version of the FAIR Act.
 
STATEMENTS OF SUPPORT:
The bill to end civil asset forfeiture in New Mexico is supported by an ideologically diverse range of organizations including the Rio Grande Foundation, the Institute for Justice, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of New Mexico, and the New Mexico Drug Policy Alliance.
 
No one acquitted of a crime in criminal court should lose property through forfeiture in civil court. This legislation ensures New Mexico remains tough on crime. Guilty people will lose the fruits of their crime. Equally important, innocent people will keep the fruits of their labor.
- Lee U. McGrath, Legislative Counsel, Institute for Justice
 
Policing for profit is very much alive and well in New Mexico. In 2011, the ACLU of New Mexico took legal action after police seized thousands of dollars from a vacationing father and son, even though they were never even accused of a crime. Innocent people in New Mexico should never fear that law enforcement officers will strip them of their property without due process.
- Peter Simonson, Executive Director, American Civil Liberties Union of New Mexico
 
For decades civil asset forfeiture practices have robbed innocent people, taking money right out of their wallets—or even taking their home and their car—without even charging them with a crime. Like other drug war programs, civil asset forfeiture is disproportionately used against poor people of color who cannot afford to hire lawyers to get their property back.
- Emily Kaltenbach, State Director, Drug Policy Alliance
 
MORE ABOUT PROFILING FOR PROFIT IN NEW MEXICO:
Profiling for Profit? Cops Take $17K From Father, Son (ABQ Journal)
VIDEO: “Police Profiling for Profit in New Mexico” – An interview with civil asset forfeiture victim Stephen Skinner (YOU TUBE)
Institute for Justice report on Policing for Profit in New Mexico
In depth investigation into civil asset forfeiture (Washington Post)
 

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LAS CRUCES, NM—Today, the ACLU of New Mexico Regional Center of Border Rights condemned the New Mexico State House vote to repeal the law that permits undocumented immigrants to obtain New Mexico drivers licenses. The following statement can be attributed to Vicki Gaubeca, director of the ACLU of New Mexico Regional Center for Border Rights:

"It's disappointing that New Mexico House members have made anti-immigrant fear-mongering the centerpiece of their agenda. Rather than working to honor New Mexico's tradition of diversity and commonsense solutions, they're choosing to make it harder for immigrant families in our community to perform basic tasks like buying groceries or taking their children to school, while simultaneously making our roads less safe by decreasing the proportion of drivers who are licensed and insured."

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The ACLU of New Mexico Regional Center for Border Rights advocates at the local, state, regional, and national levels for policies that protect the rights of people along the border.
 

DEMING, NM--Today, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of New Mexico announced that it is representing a group from the Deming Pride organization who allege that employees at a Denny's restaurant in Deming, NM refused them service, called them homophobic slurs, and asked them to leave the premises. The ACLU of New Mexico sent a demand letter to the restaurant, asking the owner to issue an an apology and make a donation.

"I've never been treated that way before," said Deming Pride president Manny Carlos. "It made me embarrassed, because we were hosting guests from out of town and this wasn't how we wanted our community to be represented. In Deming, we are brought up to show respect to one another, and that's not at all what we experienced that night at Denny's."
 

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The group stopped by the restaurant in the summer of 2014 after their annual Deming Pride pageant. The ACLU of New Mexico's demand letter alleges that the group, some of whom were in pageant regalia, were ignored by servers and not given any service for the better part of an hour after they were sat in the restaurant. When one of the group, a transgender woman, asked a server if they could be served soon, the server called them "faggots," "jotos" (a Spanish language homophobic slur) and refered to the woman as a "boy with tits." The group spoke with a manager and told him that the server was refusing them service and directing homophobic slurs at their party. When they asked the manager what he was going to do about the situation, the manager said that he could not force his employees to serve anyone they did not want to and suggested that the group leave Denny's and eat someplace else.

"We just want Denny's to know that the way they treated our group was not right," said Rose Pioquinto, who was among the group that night. "It was wrong, and something needs to be done so no one else is discriminated against in that way."

ACLU of New Mexico Cooperating Attorneys Brian Moore and Maureen Sanders, of Sanders & Westbrook P.C. in Albuquerque, NM represent the clients in this case.

Read a copy of the ACLU's demand letter to the Denny's restaurant: 1-19-15 Settlement Letter