News & Commentary

LAS CRUCES, NM—Today, Commissioner Kerlikowske announced additional phases to further study the use of body-worn and other camera technologies at U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP). The announcement follows the conclusion of a feasibility study, which tested body-worn cameras in both training and operational environments for all CBP component agencies and included field-testing by the El Paso Sector of the U.S. Border Patrol.

Flashbang grenade injures and traumatizes children in Anthony, NM during FBI’s low level drug raid

The Mobile Justice App is coming to New Mexico Friday, November 13!Videos of police encounters are changing per

ALBUQUERQUE, NM—Today, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of New Mexico denounced the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) heavy-handed attempt to force national identity cards on New Mexicans in the form of REAL ID, an extremely unpopular and unfunded mandate tacked onto a “must-pass” Tsunami relief bill and passed by Congress with no debate in 2005. The REAL ID Act of 2005 aims to turn state drivers licenses into a national identity card and impose numerous new burdens on citizens and state governments, all while doing little to protect against terrorism. On October 28, 2015, the DHS announced that it had denied New Mexico’s request for an implementation extension, potentially barring New Mexicans from using state drivers licenses to board aircraft or enter federal buildings in the future.

The

LAS CRUCES, N.M. — U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) released stats on use-of-force incidents for fiscal year 2015, claiming a reduction in incidents, yet falling short of providing stats on all officer-civilian interactions involving force.  Most conspicuously, CBP defines force narrowly to exclude incidents that are captured by the Department of Justice’s standards. Beyond CBP’s three, chosen categories—a physical restraint, the use of an alternative device or the application of lethal force—the stats fail to provide all incidents of use of force.

SOUTHERN BORDER REGION— Today, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) released revised “standards governing transport, escort, search and detention”—commonly known as TEDS. These standards create minimum requirements for U.S. Border Patrol and the Office of Field Operations, the two components of CBP, both of which may choose to supplement these standards with their own guidance.

SANTA FE, NM—Today, the New Mexico State Supreme Court announced that it granted certiorari in Morris v. New Mexico, the case seeking the right for terminally ill, mentally competent patients to seek physician aid in dying. The court is expediting the hearing to October 26th at 9:00 AM, when it will hear oral arguments on the constitutionality of prohibiting aid in dying.The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of New Mexico and the Disability Legal Rights Center (DLRC) repre

SANTA FE, NM—Today, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of New Mexico and the Disability Rights Legal Center (DRLC) filed a writ with Supreme Court of New Mexico, asking the court to expedite review of Morris v. New Mexico,  the case seeking the right of mentally competent, terminally ill people to seek physician aid in dying. On August 11, the New Mexico Court of Appeals overturned the District Court’s previous decision which stated that aid in dying is a “fundamental right.” The Court of Appeals’ opinion makes the medically sound and safe practice of aid in dying illegal in New Mexico and leaves many terminally ill New Mexicans without the ability to avoid unnecessary suffering at the end of their life.