ROSWELL, NM—Today, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of New Mexico settled its lawsuit against the City of Roswell, NM alleging that police officers repeatedly violated the First Amendment free speech rights of two local street preachers, Joshua and Jeremy De Los Santos. Joshua and Jeremy are brothers and members of the Old Paths Baptist Church in Roswell, where Joshua is the pastor. Both believe they have a duty to preach the Gospel in public, and both regularly do so. However, the Roswell Police Department (RPD) arrested both brothers multiple times for expressing their sincerely held religious beliefs in public, as is their right under the First Amendment.
 
Under the terms of the settlement, the City of Roswell will pay $97,000 in compensatory and punitive damages.
 

“This settlement is a significant victory for free speech in New Mexico,” said ACLU-NM Executive Director Peter Simonson. “Police officers may disagree with the content of your speech, but that does not give them the right to arrest you. Today we affirm the right of every person to express their opinions—even unpopular opinions—without fear of arrest or harassment by the government.”
 
In the two years preceding the ACLU’s lawsuit, Roswell police officers arrested Jeremy De Los Santos five times for preaching in public and arrested Joshua twice for the same activity. In every case, the charges against the plaintiffs were either dropped, dismissed by a court of law, or overturned as unconstitutional.
 
The De Los Santos brothers alleged that the Roswell police falsely arrested them without probable cause for exercising their First Amendment right to Free Speech on public property. The brothers also claim that RPD confiscated phones, cameras, camcorders and a bullhorn, some of which were never returned. Jeremy De Los Santos also claimed that RPD officers used excessive force on two occasions.
 
“This settlement sends a strong message to police departments everywhere that you cannot target people for arrest or harassment simply for lawfully expressing their religious beliefs in public,” said Jeremy De Los Santos. “The right to free speech is one of our most precious freedoms, and today that freedom has been upheld.”
Read the original legal complaint here: De Los Santos v Roswell.

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On Sunday, March 16, the Albuquerque Police Department (APD) sent a heavily armed unit to confront James Boyd, a homeless man who was "camping illegally" in the Sandia Foothills. The encounter ended with officers shooting and killing him. This is just the latest in a series of APD-initiated shootings that have made headlines in recent years.
Enough is enough. Ask Albuquerque Mayor Richard Berry to change the training and culture of APD so these tragedies are not repeated.
Many of you have already watched the disturbing footage of the incident captured on one of the officer's helmet cameras as officers gun down a seemingly compliant Boyd. APD chief Gordon Eden was quick to proclaim the shooting "justified," but the video footage leaves us with questions.
Thankfully, the U.S. Department of Justice is already looking into the APD's use of force. The ACLU of New Mexico is pressing the Department of Justice to include Boyd's death in its investigation.
Urge Mayor Berry to take responsibility for implementing much-needed reforms of APD's officer training and use of force policies.

By Vicki B. Gaubeca, Director of the ACLU-NM Regional Center for Border Rights

Sixteen-year old José Antonio Elena Rodriguez was walking near the U.S.-Mexico border in Nogales, Sonora, Mexico to meet his brother for a late-night snack when he was fatally shot by U.S. Border Patrol agents. An autopsy later showed the body of the teenager had been riddled with 10 bullets that had entered his back and head. Mexican officials also said it seemed there were two agents who shot at least 14 times. More than a year later, the U.S. government has yet to issue a public explanation of what happened, or to release stationary video footage, except to allege that he was part of a group throwing rocks at Border Patrol agents who were up on a hill, behind the 60-foot tall border fence. 

This week, the ACLU of New Mexico Regional Center for Border Rights is joining an ACLU delegation and participating as a civil society member in a review of the U.S. record on human rights under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, in Geneva, Switzerland.

A chief concern presented to the U.N. Human Rights Committee has been the rash of lethal use-of-force incidents at the border, including the death of Elena Rodriguez. Since January 2010, at least 28 civilians have died following an encounter with U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) personnel; 27 died as the result of use of force. These deaths include numerous cases of individuals being shot in the back, across international borders, and in response to alleged rock throwing. One-third of the deaths are of U.S. citizens and one-third of minors, including three boys aged 15, 16 and 17, who were fatally shot while standing on the Mexican side of the border.

CBP’s fundamental lack of oversight, accountability and transparency has created a culture of impunity for agents who violate agency policy or their domestic and international legal obligations. In addition, Border Patrol rejected some core changes to its use-of-force policies recommended by national law-enforcement experts at the Police Executive Research Forum (PERF), including how to respond to rock and vehicular assaults, and has refused to release those recommendations publicly.

In addition to providing testimony at informal and formal briefings, we hand-delivered the Human Rights Committee a letter signed by more than 75 border-wide and national organizations and individuals that demanded, among other key items, that CBP’s use-of-force policy and practice fall in line with the highest professional law enforcement standards and comply with international human rights standards on law enforcement conduct, with particular emphasis on improving accountability and increasing transparency with the general public and directly impacted families and individuals.

It is our hope that international pressures will result in closure for the family of Elena Rodriguez and that improved use-of-force policies and training will prevent further unnecessary deaths.

Read more about ACLU’s use-of-force recommendations for CBP  and more information about the ACLU delegation to the ICCPR review and the ACLU shadow report .