FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE June 20, 2007
CONTACT: Whitney Potter (505) 266 5915 ext. 1003, Cell (505) 507 9898
LAS CRUCES, NM—The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of New Mexico has named Maria Nape as the Director of a new ACLU office, located in the border town of Las Cruces, New Mexico, which will defend civil rights, especially of immigrants, in the border region.  Nape has a law degree and years of experience advocating for the rights of migrant farmworkers.
“I am thrilled to head up such an exciting and timely initiative for the ACLU,” Nape said.  “The intensification of law enforcement on the border and growing reactionary attitudes towards immigrants around the country make the ACLU’s new border rights office a vital effort.  I look forward to learning from other border groups how we can complement their work and help create an effective civil rights presence throughout the border corridor.”
Prior to joining the ACLU, Nape spent five years advocating for the rights of migrant farmworkers as Director of the Migrant Farmworker Project at Legal Services Organization of Indiana and as Executive Director of the Farmworker Coordinating Council of Palm Beach County, Florida.  She received her law degree from Indiana University and most recently served on the faculty of Florida Atlantic University’s School of Public Administration.
“Maria is a tremendous addition to our organization,” said ACLU of New Mexico Executive Director Peter Simonson.  “Her combination of legal experience and familiarity with the plight of immigrants will enable her to effectively lead the ACLU’s efforts in this new endeavor.  We look forward to bolstering the presence of the ACLU in communities all along the border.”
When fully outfitted, the new ACLU office will house a staff of three who, in tandem with the National ACLU Immigrants’ Rights Project, support the border rights work of ACLU affiliates in Texas, Arizona, and San Diego.  The office is part of a state-wide expansion of the ACLU of New Mexico’s facilities and a National ACLU plan to raise the capacity of ACLU affiliates in the middle part of the country to equal that of affiliates on the wealthier and more populous coasts.
Nape said, “Current reactionary laws against immigrants are not working.  Nowhere is this more true than on the border.  People are searched, deported, and sometimes even assaulted on the presumption that they are immigrants and in this country illegally.  The goal of our border office is to combat these un-American practices and ensure that fairness and the promise of the Bill of Rights extends to everyone in the border region, regardless of their nation of origin.”

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE June 6, 2007
CONTACT: Whitney Potter (505) 266 5915 ext. 1003, Cell (505) 507 9898 or Joleen Youngers (505) 541-8000, Cell (505) 496-7422
LAS CRUCES, NM--Yesterday a federal court judge rejected legal motions by attorneys for New Mexico State University (NMSU) head football coach Hal Mumme asking the judge to throw out a case filed by attorneys for the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of New Mexico claiming that Mumme discriminated against four Muslim players on the basis of their religion.  The ruling means that the case will go to trial on June 25th, 2007.
“We are anxious for a jury to hear the facts behind this case,” said ACLU Executive Director Peter Simonson.  “There are a number of compelling examples of how the coaching staff interfered with our plaintiffs’ abilities to observe their religion and caused them to feel like their belief in Islam made them outcasts.”
The ACLU contends that:

• The NMSU coaching staff created an environment hostile to Islam by making ongoing comments disparaging the players’ religion and requiring that players show their support for the war in Iraq.  The comments included Mumme’s questioning of player Mu’Ammar Ali about his religious beliefs and whether or not they connected him to al-Qaeda;

• Mumme’s promotion of Christian prayer prior to practices and meals and his refusal to allow the plaintiffs to lead the team in Muslim prayers had coercive effects on the player’s exercise of their Islamic faith;

• The coaching staff’s practiced indifference to the players’ faith-based dietary restrictions—even going so far as to taunt one of the players with foods he could not eat because of his faith—interfered with the players’ freedom to exercise their religion;

• Players Ali and Anthony and Vincent Thompson were dismissed from the team because of their religion and not due to violations of team policy, as evidenced by Mumme’s more lenient punishment of non-Muslim players who arguably committed more serious infractions.

All of the plaintiff’s claims regarding civil rights violations survived the defendants’ motions for summary judgment and will be addressed during the jury trial.
Attorneys for the ACLU are Joleen Youngers (Las Cruces) and ACLU staff attorney George Bach.

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Related Documents:

Read the Complaint
6_5_07_SJ_Ruling_Wallace
6_5_07_SJ_Ruling3P

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE May 23, 2007
CONTACT: Whitney Potter (505) 266 5915 ext. 1003, Cell (505) 507 9898
ALBUQUERQUE, NM—The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of New Mexico sued NM Senator Rod Adair today for denying Roswell resident Virgil Beagles his lawful right to attend legislative hearings during New Mexico’s recent legislative session.  The suit was filed in federal court.
On February 16, 2007, Adair verbally accosted Beagles as he sat in a hallway of the Capitol building, yelling and pointing his finger at Beagles and demanding that Beagles exit the building.  At Adair’s insistence, Senate security prohibited Beagles from entering the Senate side of the Roundhouse and from attending committee hearings on bills that were of special interest to him.
“Senator Adair clearly misunderstands his power as a legislator if he thinks he can boot whomever he wants out of the Roundhouse,” said ACLU Executive Director Peter Simonson.  “No one--not a legislator, not the Governor, not even the President--has the authority to interfere with a citizen’s right to legally participate in the political process.  This case should remind Senator Adair, and any other legislator who would behave similarly, that the Constitution trumps their ability to pick and choose who lobbies and who doesn’t during the legislative session.”
Beagles makes little secret of his antipathy towards Republican politicians in the Roswell area.  He regularly authors letters to the editor in the Albuquerque Journal and the Roswell Daily Record criticizing Adair for his political positions.  At a June 6, 2006 Democratic Party function, Beagles told Chavez County Commissioner Alice Eppers that she was not welcome at the table where he was sitting, prompting Eppers to file a report with Roswell police falsely alleging that Beagles threatened her.
In his tirade against Beagles, Adair called Beagles an “evil person” who had “threatened a County Commissioner.”
To Beagles’ knowledge, the Roswell police never pursued the complaint.
Simonson said, “Party politics may provide the backdrop to this case, but a bigger principle lies at its heart: the right of every citizen to express themselves without fear of retaliation.  Senator Adair interfered with that guarantee and we’re going to see that Mr. Beagle’s rights are restored.”
Cooperating attorney for the ACLU of New Mexico F. Michael Hart and ACLU of New Mexico Staff Attorney George Bach are litigating the case.

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Related Documents:

Adair Complaint