By Natalie Reid
In recent days, it has come to light that the Internal Revenue Service purposefully targeted conservative political groups, especially the Tea Party. Lois Lerner, a senior official at the IRS, issued a public apology, claiming that an influx of applications for the 501(c)(4) tax-exempt status led to shortcuts at the lower levels of the organization. These shortcuts included typing the words “tea party” or “patriot” into the computer to isolate groups that were political. Whether the IRS targeted conservative groups because low level staffers took ill advised short cuts or targeted groups because of their own ideological bias, the results, in the words of President Barack Obama were, “outrageous.”
Conservative or liberal, Democrat or Republican, Tea Party or NAACP, no individual or group should be targeted because of their political beliefs. In a recent CNN article, Michael Macleod-Ball, chief of staff at the ACLU's Washington Legislative Office, and Gabe Rottman, legislative counsel/policy adviser in the ACLU's Washington Legislative Office, wrote on the IRS scandal and explained how it affects the individual:

“It also shows how all Americans, from the most liberal to the most conservative, should closely guard their First Amendment rights, and why giving the government too much power to limit political speech will inevitably result in selective enforcement against unpopular groups.”

This illegal targeting affected groups all over the United States, including here in New Mexico. According to Rick Harbaugh, the president of the Albuquerque Tea Party, the IRS asked his organization for hundreds of pages of additional documentation nearly two years after the group initially asked for the 501(c)(4) tax exemption. The IRS scandal hits home on several levels. It not only affects local Albuquerque groups, but also threatens every individual’s First Amendment right, the right to free speech. Free Speech should not be punished, and this holds true for the Tea party and every individual; defend one, defend all.
Natalie Reid is a senior at Sandia Preparatory School and is working at the ACLU for her high school senior experience internship.

Next Wednesday, the ALCU-NM Regional Center for Boarder Rights is hosting a screening of the new documentary film, Two Americans, in Las Cruces. From the film's website:

Enter the heart of an American family living in the shadows of a state that has criminalized their existence. Walk the beat of the nation’s most recognized lawman as he stares down charges of his own.
The parents of 9-year-old Katherine Figueroa are arrested when America’s Toughest Sheriff raids a Phoenix carwash suspected of hiring illegal workers. As young Kathy fights to save her parents from deportation, a community group succeeds in pressuring the County Board to investigate Sheriff Joe Arpaio’s spending priorities. When the sheriff retaliates against his political foes, his actions spark outrage, and a federal investigation.

Watch the theatrical trailer:

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f4U3g502mic&list=UUlRFOFcQ5HZgd-cgmQL1dQQ&index=2

ALBUQUERQUE, NM—Today, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of New Mexico and Equality New Mexico (EQNM) released a statement of support for marriage for same-sex couples signed by 94 interfaith religious leaders in New Mexico. The statement is part of the ACLU of New Mexico and EQNM’s joint public education campaign Why Marriage Matters New Mexico (formerly All Families Matter New Mexico.) The signatories include both active and retired faith leaders from around the state, representing a variety of denominations and faith traditions.
“By standing in support of the freedom to marry for all committed couples in New Mexico, I believe that I am in no way taking a bold or unusual stance,” said Robert Woodruff, a Presbyterian minister from Albuquerque. “I am simply standing in the light of my faith perspective of inclusion, and the fundamental call to love one’s neighbor as oneself. Though I do not speak for all of the faithful in the denomination or congregation I serve, I do speak with a great multitude. I speak in one voice with the nearly one-hundred other religious leaders in New Mexico, from varying faith traditions and denominations, who have joined together to affirm the moral and faith tenets of respecting and honoring all marriages formed by loving, committed couples.”
The text of the statement of support reads:

We, the undersigned clergy and religious leaders from across New Mexico, draw upon our moral convictions and our personal faith to support the freedom to marry in our state. 
We are leaders of various faith communities, who have lived and ministered closely with thousands of families through all of life’s glory, tragedy, and tedium. Some of these families are headed by same-sex couples. They, like many of us, enjoy the holidays with aunts and cousins, struggle to meet the mortgage, and fret over children who aren't doing well in school.
These families are our neighbors, our co-workers, our friends and our peers. As people of faith and as New Mexicans, we believe in loving our neighbors, and treating one another as we would like to be treated—with dignity and respect. This means recognizing the love and commitment of lesbian and gay couples through marriage.
Entering into a committed, loving relationship is one of life’s most sacred and holy gifts. Marriage means responsibility and hard work, but it also brings life-changing protections for a family. Those of us who are married often take for granted the fact that we will not be questioned when we go to the hospital to visit our spouse; that no one can step between a mother and her children; that if death comes suddenly and we are unprepared, our spouse or children will not be denied inheritance in those mournful hours. Most heterosexual couples wouldn’t want to be denied these joys and protections that come with marriage, and when they think about it, they wouldn’t want to deny that to anyone else, either.
We recognize that there are a diversity of views in the faith community, and respect the right of religious groups to refuse to officiate or bless marriages for lesbian or gay couples. Indeed, not everyone in our congregations or denominations agrees with this viewpoint. By the same token, we support civil marriage fairness as an issue of religious freedom, for a denial of civil recognition dishonors the religious convictions of those communities and clergy who do officiate, and bless, marriages for same-sex couples.
Our religious principles are grounded in a love and acceptance of all people, and we believe deeply that means embracing marriage between same-sex couples.
New Mexico has a long history of valuing and protecting the humanity and dignity of every person. It is time to extend this tradition to families that include same-sex couples.

A full list of all the signatories may be read here. Selected faith leaders are available for interviews by the media.

If you are a faith leader in New Mexico and would like to add your name to the growing list of supporters, please contact Field Organizer Amanda Johnson at [email protected] call (505) 266-5915 x1013.

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