News & Commentary

For too long, qualified immunity has shielded bad actors from liability and prevented survivors of abuse from seeking justice. But we can change that.

Allowing private corporations to profit off of bondage and suffering in our state has perpetuated a humanitarian crisis and cost taxpayers millions in lawsuits resulting from the rampant neglect and abuse in these facilities. It is both a moral and material failure for our state.

For the past seven months, rarely has a day gone by that the ACLU hasn’t received a desperate call or email from someone who has a family member or loved one locked up in one of our state’s jails or prisons. They are mothers, fathers, siblings, spouses – all terrified that someone they love will get sick because our state has abdicated its responsibility to prevent the unchecked spread of a deadly virus inside its detention facilities.

In fact, instead of improving public safety, COVID-19 has shown us that our addiction to incarceration is an urgent threat to public health. There is a clear path forward.

Lisa Jaramillo was excited to take up a job in maintenance at the Western New Mexico Correctional Facility in January of 2017. Whatever joy her job provided her quickly vanished.

It was mid-May and Ramadan was just beginning. For weeks prior, Tremaine was consumed with worry that he and his friends would be denied participation in the holy month, a time when Muslims deepen their faith through fasting and communal prayer.

Nine years after his release from prison, Barron Jones has become a leading advocate for criminal justice reform in New Mexico.

ACLU of New Mexico files lawsuit on behalf of Albuquerque woman who was sexually assaulted by her parole officer