ALBUQUERQUE, NM - In a case brought by the ACLU of New Mexico (ACLU-NM), U.S. District  Judge M. Christina Armijo ruled today that Albuquerque’s regulation banning sex offenders from public libraries is unconstitutional. The court determined that the ban infringed too broadly upon the First Amendment right to receive information and creates “an unacceptable risk of the suppression of ideas.”
“No one questions the City’s purpose of ensuring public safety, but this regulation sacrificed library access for too many people who present no threat to library goers,” said ACLU-NM Executive Director Peter Simonson.  “A regulation like this must be narrowly tailored if it is going to infringe on a right as fundamental as the public’s ability to receive information.  For many people, public libraries are, as one court put it, ‘the quintessential locus of the receipt of information.’”
In the decision handed down today, the court reached this conclusion:
“This Court has struggled in this case to strike the proper legal balance between competing interests… On one side of the equation here is the City, which no reasonable person could or would contend does not have a legitimate and compelling interest in…protecting children from harm, danger and crime, especially crimes of a sexual nature. On the other side of the equation is a group of individuals that, no matter how reviled, nevertheless possesses certain constitutional rights. When those rights are burdened or, in this case, wholly extinguished by an action of government, this Court has an obligation to scrutinize the facts and the law closely, carefully, and objectively to ensure that, whatever the end result, it is just. In this case, having done just this, the Court concludes that the City’s regulation, as currently written and in its present form, cannot stand.”
The court’s order enjoins the City of Albuquerque from enforcing the regulation as currently written.
UPDATE (5/7/10): Albuquerque Mayor Richard Berry has reinstated the ban for all libraries except the main branch on Thursdays and Saturdays. Read more about the new ordinance and ACLU-NM's response.

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The mission of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of New Mexico is to maintain and advance the cause of civil liberties within the state of New Mexico, with particular emphasis on the freedom of religion, speech, press, association, and assemblage, and the right to vote, due process of law and equal protection of law, and to take any legitimate action in the furtherance and defense of such purposes. These objectives shall be sought wholly without political partisanship.
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Albuquerque v. Doe Opinion

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: February 10, 2010
CONTACT: Micah McCoy, (505) 266-5915 Ext. 1003 or [email protected]
LAS CRUCES, NM – The ACLU of New Mexico (ACLU-NM) and Disability Rights New Mexico (DRNM) settled their lawsuit against the Doña Ana County Detention Center (DACDC), securing essential mental health services for detainees. The settlement marks the end of a lawsuit brought as a class action by detainees who alleged that DACDC failed to provide adequate treatment for inmates with mental health disabilities. Under the terms of the settlement, DACDC will improve its intake screening process and provision of treatment, and it will modify segregation cell use as well as seclusion and restraint procedures to comply with constitutional standards and the Americans with Disabilities Act.
“We are very pleased that Doña Ana County has agreed to take these important steps towards providing detainees with adequate mental health care,” said ACLU-NM Executive Director Peter Simonson. “These reforms will go a long way towards ensuring that detainees with mental disabilities are diagnosed and given proper care. We expect these changes to make the Doña Ana County Detention Center a safer and healthier facility.”
The settlement agreement mandates that DACDC implement standard screening procedures in its intake process in order to identify at the outset which detainees require treatment for mental disabilities. This will ensure that detainees receive immediate attention and avoid a deterioration of their condition that could put themselves, security staff and other detainees at risk. The agreement also requires that detainees with significant mental health disabilities be housed in a specialized mental health unit within the detention center and that they be supervised by corrections officers who have undergone special training regarding mental health issues.
A key achievement of the settlement was an assurance that placement in isolation cells — used inappropriately throughout the nation when dealing with detainees or inmates with mental disabilities — will not be used for detainees with mental disabilities unless all other less restrictive options have been exhausted. In addition, when physical restraint becomes necessary, corrections officers will only hold detainees until a trained medical professional is able to diagnose and administer treatment.
“Disability Rights New Mexico has been responding to concerns about inadequate mental health care in DACDC since 2004,” said Nancy Koenigsberg, DRNM Legal Director.  “DACDC is now required to maintain an adequate level of mental health services staffing.  It also has a continuum of care of mental health services in the facility, as well as provisions for transferring detainees to acute care out of the facility when clinically indicated.  These are very important services for detainees with mental disabilities. We also hope this may help with recidivism.”
A neutral expert in prison mental health care will be agreed upon by both parties and contracted to monitor and evaluate DACDC progress in the implementation of these reforms over the next two years. DRNM will oversee the monitoring process.
ACLU-NM Staff Attorney Brendan Egan, Disability Rights New Mexico Attorneys Nancy Koenigsberg and Tim Gardner, the Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law and ACLU-NM Cooperating Attorneys George Bach, Peter Cubra and Michael Lilley represented the plaintiffs in this case.

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: January 20, 2009
CONTACT: Micah McCoy, (505) 266-5915 Ext. 1003 or [email protected]
ALBUQUERQUE, NM - The ACLU of New Mexico (ACLU-NM) is stunned and saddened by yesterday’s announcement that the New Mexico Conference of Catholic Bishops will actively oppose the Domestic Partners Rights and Responsibilities Act. After indicating that they would consider a neutral stance on the bill if all reference to “marriage” was removed, the archdiocese now refuses to collaborate with equality advocates outright.
Throughout the State of New Mexico, thousands of committed couples—both same-sex and straight—live without the benefits and protections that married couples take for granted. Domestic partners and their families are denied basic and essential protections such as health insurance, disability benefits and the right to care for a partner with sick or paid leave. When tragedy strikes, domestic partners currently have no say in the medical, legal and financial decision making on behalf of their loved ones.
Disregarding the thousands of men, women and children this bill would protect, the Conference of Catholic Bishops chose to oppose this crucial legislation for fear it might be a “steppingstone to marriage”.
"We are deeply disappointed by the archdiocese's refusal to collaborate with us on this important legislation,” said ACLU-NM Executive Director Peter Simonson. “The ACLU and allied partners did everything humanly possible to satisfy their concerns about the language of the bill, and still the archdiocese would not budge. It is a shame that such a powerful voice has chosen to speak out against equality and fairness for New Mexican families.”
The current 800-page domestic partnership bill was painstakingly drafted specifically to address the Conference of Catholic Bishops’ concerns. Marriage is mentioned nowhere in the bill and a religious exemption clause explicitly protects faith communities who oppose domestic partnerships on moral grounds.
“I am confident that the day will soon come when domestic partners enjoy full legal recognition of their relationships,” said Simonson. “The ACLU is committed to that struggle."

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The mission of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of New Mexico is to maintain and advance the cause of civil liberties within the state of New Mexico, with particular emphasis on the freedom of religion, speech, press, association, and assemblage, and the right to vote, due process of law and equal protection of law, and to take any legitimate action in the furtherance and defense of such purposes. These objectives shall be sought wholly without political partisanship.