News & Commentary

Incarcerated and denied medical care.

How three female attorneys fought back against rampant sexism at a New Mexico district attorney’s offic

We must put an end to the domestic violence crises that deprives victims of their fundamental ability to live with dignity, but the solutions currently in place are not working.Tanya Romero of Esperanza Shelter for Battered Families talks about how we can make lasting transformative change.

The ACLU and the New American Resistance

"Pregnant and parenting teens are future doctors, lawyers, police officers, etc. They are capable of success, and it is our job to support their academic goals." -Melissa Romero, Teen Parent

 According to recent data, New Mexico has the 2nd highest teen pregnancy rate in the country; it follows that New Mexico has high numbers of parents who had their first children as teenagers. As a young mama recently shared, “we aren’t just teens having babies, we are young parents who are raising families”. The negative practice of shaming and blaming young parents exists everywhere and has untold impacts on young families.

GALLUP, N.M. – The American Civil Liberties Union and the ACLU of New Mexico filed a lawsuit today on behalf of Shantelle Hicks, 15, who was initially kicked out of middle school and then publicly humiliated at an assembly by the school director and another staff member because she was pregnant.The complaint alleges that school administrators violated Hicks’ constitutional right to equal

Boys will be boys, and girls will be girls. Such is the mantra of a growing group of educators and policy makers who argue that boys and girls are so different from one another that they should be taught in separate classrooms—single sex classrooms. A few public schools in Albuquerque  have already implemented such a scheme.  It may be that, on an individual basis, some students perform better in gender-segregated environments. However, before we move to institutionalize this radical approach to public education, we should consider the serious questions that have been raised about the constitutionality, legitimacy, and effectiveness of gender-segregated teaching methods.