News & Commentary

We got some good news and some bad news today.

In our country we take for granted that we are presumed innocent until proven guilty. But in communities that span 100 miles north of the U.S.-Mexico border, the Border Patrol is flipping that presumption on its head. The ACLU of New Mexico Regional Center for Border Rights (RCBR) has conducted an investigation into the practices of the Border Patrol in southern New Mexico and found disturbing evidence that Border Patrol agents:

Check this out: the ACLU of Northern California just launched a new Mobile Justice app, a cool new tool that helps you to film and document encounters with police officers.With a simple tap of your touch screen, the Mobile Justice App will help you to hold police accountable by recording them when they step over the line. When you're done recording, the app will upload the video automatically to a secure server online where the ACLU can review it. That way if a police officer confiscates your phone or deletes your video, your evidence will still be preserved.

New Mexico outlaws civil asset forfeiture, aka “Policing for profit”

Last week, the politicians who run the State of Indiana loaded a gun, aimed it at their own foot, and pulled the trigger—and then limped around acting shocked that they had shot themselves in the foot.

 

SANTA FE, NM—Today, the Senate unanimously passed Representative Zachary Cook’s bill to end civil asset forfeiture—also known as “policing for profit”—in New Mexico. This unfair practice allows police to seize and keep property of citizens who haven’t even been charged with a crime, never mind convicted. Rep. Cook’s legislation would end the legal fiction of civil forfeiture—that property can be responsible for a crime—and replaces it with criminal forfeiture. Criminal forfeiture requires a conviction of a person as a prerequisite to losing property tied to the crime.“Crime should not pay,” said Paul Gessing, President of the Rio Grande Foundatio

ALBUQUERQUE, NM—Today, the ACLU, Disability Rights New Mexico, and the Native American Voters Alliance filed a motion to intervene in the settlement agreement between the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the City of Albuquerque. Were the court to grant this motion,  these local community organizations would become  parties to the agreement with the City, increasing the community’s say in how the agreement will be implemented. “We have always maintained that local community involvement is essential to the success of the effort to reform the Albuquerque Police Department,” said Alexandra Freedman Smith, Legal Director for the ACLU of New Mexico. “The most vulnerable populations in Albuquerque suffer the brunt of unconstitutional policing practices, and their voices must be a part of the conversation. Together, we can strengthen the efforts to build APD into the responsible, community-friendly police force our city deserves.” Three organizations will act as plaintiffs on behalf of the Albuquerque communities most vulnerable to police excessive use of force: 

SANTA FE, NM—Today, Republican Representative Zachary J. Cook introduced a bill designed to end civil asset forfeiture—also known as “policing for profit”—in New Mexico. This unfair practice allows police to seize and keep property of citizens who haven’t even been charged with a crime, never mind convicted. Rep. Cook’s legislation would end the legal fiction of civil forfeiture—that property can be responsible for a crime—and replaces it with criminal forfeiture. Criminal forfeiture requires a conviction of a person as a prerequisite to losing property tied to the crime.