Albuquerque four months delinquent in providing information regarding program to screen arrestees for immigration status
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M.—The American Civil Liberties Union of New Mexico (ACLU-NM) filed a lawsuit Friday, December 3^rd against the City of Albuquerque for its refusal to provide information regarding the implementation of ‘Secure Communities,’ a federal program to screen arrestees for immigration status in Albuquerque jails. The lawsuit alleges that the City has effectively denied information to the ACLU that it is required to share under the New Mexico Inspection of Public Records Act (IPRA).
“As New Mexicans, we have a right to access documents and other information that are a matter of public record,” said ACLU-NM Executive Director Peter Simonson. “Our state IPRA exists to keep government open and accountable; it’s the law and the City of Albuquerque must comply with it.”
Upon receiving an IPRA request, a New Mexico governmental agency is required by law to provide the requested public information within 15 days. Should they fail to do so, they are deemed to have denied the request. ACLU-NM filed the original IPRA request on July, 16 2010 and has sent multiple follow-up inquiries in an attempt to obtain the requested documents. As of the date of this release, ACLU-NM has not received any of the requested information concerning the implementation of Secure Communities in Albuquerque’s Prisoner Transport Center.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security created the Secure Communities program for the alleged purpose of helping Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents to identify serious criminal offenders who are unlawfully present in the United States. Studies show, however, that Secure Communities has largely targeted minor offenders and, in some jurisdictions, has led to higher levels of arrests of people who appear and sound “foreign.”
“Not only is the City of Albuquerque unlawfully withholding important public information from the people of New Mexico, but they’re needlessly wasting taxpayers’ money,” said ACLU-NM Managing Attorney Laura Schauer Ives. “Under state law, ACLU-NM is entitled to $100 in damages for every day the city is delinquent in responding to our public information request. Because of their noncompliance in this simple matter, the city owes ACLU-NM in excess of $18,000.”
In addition to seeking damages, the lawsuit also demands that the City of Albuquerque release the information regarding Secure Communities that ACLU-NM originally requested under IPRA in July, 2010.
ACLU-NM Managing Attorney Laura Schauer Ives represents the plaintiff in this case.

A copy of the complaint can be found here.
PRESS CONTACT: Micah McCoy, (505) 266-5915 Ext. 1003, or [email protected]

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
December 1, 2010
CONTACT: Micah McCoy, (505) 266-5915 Ext. 1003 or [email protected]
ESPAÑOLA, N.M. – Today, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of New Mexico joined a class action lawsuit against Española Public Schools (EPS) and private security firm ProSec Services on behalf of the “Española Eight,” a group of middle school and high school students who suffered vicious and relentless bullying at their schools. The Kennedy Law Firm first filed the suit against EPS on August 23, 2010 for the district’s failure to address a known bullying problem and their practice of employing private security guards who encourage and participate in the abuse themselves.
“Española Public Schools is failing to provide a safe educational environment for their students to learn and grow,” said ACLU Co-legal Director Phil Davis. “Their deliberate indifference has allowed bullying to go unchecked in the district’s middle and high schools. No student should have to endure the kind of abuse our clients have suffered; especially not from the very people they are supposed to trust for their protection.”
EPS currently contracts with ProSec Services to provide guards and security cameras at Carlos Vigil Middle School and Española Valley High School. According to the legal complaint against EPS, guards not only fail to supervise hallways and school bathrooms between classes, but they also promote student-on-student aggression. Students often upload video clips of these fights to the internet for the purpose of further humiliating their victims. In some cases, students were hospitalized for injuries sustained during these incidents. The complaint charges individual security guards with the rape of a minor student, selling drugs to students, inciting students to assault other students, battery and false imprisonment.
The complaint accuses school administrators at Carlos Vigil Middle School and Española Valley High School of ignoring the problem, even when victims’ parents filed multiple complaints. The Española Police Department is named as a defendant for refusing to properly investigate reports of student-on-student violence and using excessive force against students.
“In recent months, a rash of teen suicides across the nation has shown us just how devastating the consequences of bullying in our schools can be,” says ACLU-NM Executive Director Peter Simonson. “Students have the right to receive an education without enduring harassment and violence at the hands of other students and school employees. EPS cannot continue with their attitude that violence is an unfortunate, but irreparable condition in their secondary schools.”
The Kennedy Law Firm, the Rothstein Law Firm and ACLU-NM seek relief for their clients against the policies and practices that create a dangerous and unreasonable environment in Española Public Schools. In addition, counsel seeks compensatory and punitive damages for suffering and injuries sustained by the plaintiffs.
ACLU-NM cooperating attorneys on the case include: Shannon Kennedy, Cammie Nichols, Brendan Egan and ACLU-NM Co-legal Director Phil Davis.
To see video evidence of the bullying epidemic, visit the ACLU-NM website at: https://www.aclu-nm.org/videos-violence-in-espanola-schools/2010/12/
For a full account of the allegations brought by the Kennedy Law Firm, Rothstein Law Firm and ACLU-NM, you can read the complaint online at: http://www.courthousenews.com/2010/07/13/Espanola.pdf

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This footage--taken from YouTube.com-- is believed to have been shot by students for the purpose of further humiliating their victims. We show these clips here to illustrate just how far out of control the violence and bullying in Espanola secondary schools has spiraled. All of the following clips are from the past few years and were shot during school hours in either the Espanola middle school or high school.
WARNING: These clips contain strong language and violence.

Clip 1

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