A road sign showing the Rio Arriba county line with Lybrook elementary just beyond it.

Locked Out: When School Boards Exclude Native Representation

At a small school district in northwestern New Mexico, many Navajo parents cannot run for local school board or vote in the school district’s elections where their children go to school. 

Latest Press Release


People Incarcerated in Doña Ana County Jail Sue Over Violent Paramilitary Tactics and Inhumane Treatment 

Six people who were held at the Doña Ana County Detention Center (DACDC) filed a lawsuit today seeking to end the jail's practice of conducting violent, unwarranted paramilitary training operations on incarcerated people.
Body camera footage from March 8, 2025, when such training operations took place at DACDC. Various officers, masked and armed, are seen running into the quiet cells in the middle of the night.

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Stay informed on civil rights issues. Discover our latest actions and updates in the Press Release section.

A photo of Rita Padilla-Gutiérrez standing in front of her sign that reads: "Trump, racist, rapist, not my president"

More Than a Yard Sign: Fighting for Free Speech in Tomé, New Mexico

When Rita Padilla-Gutiérrez posted anti-Trump signs in her yard, Valencia County threatened her with criminal prosecution at the urging of a pro-Trump county commissioner.

By Rita-Padilla Gutiérrez

Dark blue collage image of GuJuan, featuring a recent photo of him along with a childhood picture in various color filters

Beyond the Concrete Box: Gujuan Fusilier’s Story

This blog is the third of a series based on interviews with three men currently held in the Penitentiary of New Mexico who are part of a class action lawsuit challenging the inhumane and unconstitutional conditions of New Mexico’s long-term solitary confinement unit.

By Lalita Moskowitz

Stylized image of plantiffs in front of a dark green background, a silhouette of a man sitting down on pavement looking distressed is centered in the photo stylized in green.

Beyond the Concrete Box: Human Stories from Solitary

This blog is the first of a series based on interviews with Mah-konce Hudson, GuJuan Fusilier, and O'Shay Toney, who are currently held in the Penitentiary of New Mexico.

By Lalita Moskowitz

ACLU-NM Statement on SB 43

Yesterday, sponsors and advocates of Senate Bill 43, the Second Chance Bill, announced the removal of the bill from consideration in the New Mexico House of Representatives during the 2022 legislative session. SB 43 would have abolished juvenile life without parole in New Mexico and created early eligibility for parole for those serving long adult sentences for crimes committed as children. The bill would’ve brought New Mexico in line with recent U.S. Supreme Court decisions and with a growing number of states that have already passed similar legislation. 

Second Chance Bill

COVID cases are exploding at an ICE detention center in New Mexico

There have been 242 new COVID-19 cases at the Otero County Processing Center so far this year.

By Leonardo Castañeda

The Otero County Prison Facility, in Chaparral, New Mexico, operated by Management and Training Corp (MTC)

Four things you need to know about the pretrial detention bill

Among the slew of public safety bills New Mexico legislators are debating this session are HB 5 and SB 189, which would impose new pretrial release conditions and roll back voter-approved bail reforms in the state.

By ACLU-NM

Rebuttable Presumption

Questions and Answers About The Fines, Fees and Cost Payment Flexibility Bill

The Fines, Fees and Cost Payment Flexibility Bill (HB81), seeks to change how court fees are assessed and repaid so people working to rebuild their lives aren’t burdened with crushing debt or re-incarcerated simply because they can’t immediately afford their fees. Those fees, which are often used to fund government agencies, do nothing to improve public safety and often fall hardest on overpoliced Black and Brown communities already struggling with systemic racism and fewer job opportunities, resulting in lower incomes.

By Leonardo Castañeda

Fines and Fees Reform

The New Mexico Voting Rights Act: What You Need to Know

The fight for voting rights remains as critical as ever. Politicians across the country continue to engage in voter suppression, efforts that include additional obstacles to registration, cutbacks on early voting, and burdensome voter identification requirements. But in New Mexico we have a chance to turn the tide to expand and protect voting rights for all of us in passing the New Mexico Voting Rights Act. 

Voting Booths

Second Chance Bill: What it does, why it’s important, and how you can help

ACLU of New Mexico Staff Attorney Denali Wilson talks about the need for the Second Chance Bill in New Mexico.

Second Chance Bill

Internal Border Patrol checkpoints threaten New Mexico’s cannabis equity goals

The checkpoints could hinder the participation of businesses in Southern New Mexico in the state's legal cannabis industry.

By Leonardo Castañeda

Interior Border Checkpoints Threaten New Mexico's Cannabis Equity Goals

Base Pretrial Detention on Facts, Not Fear

Ahead of the 2022 legislative session, Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham and allied lawmakers are calling for legislation that would make it even easier to detain people accused of certain felony crimes before their trials, citing public safety concerns. The legislation they propose flies in the face of the core American principle of “innocent until proven guilty” by creating a presumption against release for people accused of certain crimes.

By Nayomi Valdez

Pretrial detention

Why this former prosecutor supports the second chance bill

Over half of U.S. states have either passed laws abolishing juvenile life without parole and creating second chance opportunities or they have never imposed such a sentence on children. New Mexico can look to the experiences that these other states have had with legislation like the Second Chance Bill to see that this type of legislation works. This legislative session, it is time for New Mexico to align with the rest of the country and pass the Second Chance Bill into law.

Preston Shipp