News & Commentary

SILVER CITY, NM– PETER CHASE an Albuquerqueresident, has been selected as the winner in the Southwestern Chapter of the ACLU-NM’s Annual Singer/Songwriter Competition.  He has performed at, Jamm Music Fest in Jemez Springs, Glenwoodstock and Soccorofest.  In 2008 he took third place in the Woody Guthrie Folk Festival Songwriting Competition, and in 2010, won Honorable Mention from the same festival.   His latest CD, "Special Deluxe," is his twelfth collection of original songs.  Peter was one of three finalists in the 2012 and 2013 competition, and has been selected to for his submission Attica, a lament on the horrific nature of prisons, this year’s theme.   This is the fifth consecutive year that the Southwestern Chapter of ACLU-NM has sponsored a competition for singer/songwriters on a topic of Constitutional Rights as part of their Annual Meeting.  This year’s competition began with performers fromNew Mexico, Southern Arizona, andWest Texas being invited to submit entries.  Peter Chase will be performing his winning entry, as well as his entries from previous years’ competitions at the Annual Meeting of the Southwestern Chapter of the ACLU of New Mexico. The Southwestern Chapter of the ACLU of New Mexico incorporates the counties of Grant, Catron, Luna, andHidalgo. Their Annual Meeting, open to all members and the public, will be held on Friday, October 24, 2014 at the Woman’s Club inSilverCity.  The event, beginning at 6:00 PM, will include addresses by knowledgeable speakers on the subject of Prisons and Incarceration; as well as the performance by Peter Chase. MATTHEW ELWELL – The Director of theLunaCountyDetentionCenter, and the former Operations Administrator at theBernalilloCountyMetropolitanDetentionCenter.   Mr. Elwell will be discussing State and Local policies and initiatives forDetentionCentersand Prisons, as well as some of the issues being faced by them. PETER OSSORIO – An ACLU-NM Board Member fromLas Cruces, an Attorney, and a former Federal Prosecutor has a unique perspective on the topic, having been a jailer prior to becoming a lawyer.  Mr. Ossorio will discuss the increasing dependence on incarceration in the State and Nation.  He will also touch on the topics of jails being used to house the mentally ill, imprisonment for Marijuana possession, and profusion of For-Profit Private Prisons. The Doors will open at the Woman’s Club located at1715 Silver Heights Blvd(HWY 180) inSilverCityat 6:00 PM, and the program will begin at 6:30 PM.  Light refreshments, good music, good conversation will be available for free. 

LAS CRUCES, NM—Today, the Doña Ana County Board of County Commissioners voted and passed a resolution establishing the county as a “Safe Community for All Residents.” The resolution joins Doña Ana County with countless communities across the nation, including major urban centers, which have passed similar resolutions stating that routine enforcement of federal immigration law is not the job of county employees.

WASHINGTON--The American Civil Liberties Union, American Immigration Council, National Immigration Project of the National Lawyers Guild, and National Immigration Law Center today sued the federal government to challenge its policies denying a fair deportation process to mothers and children who have fled extreme violence, death threats, rape, and persecution in Central America and come to the United States seeking safety.

BLOOMFIELD, NM—Yesterday afternoon, District Court Judge James Parker ruled that the granite monument featuring the Ten Commandments installed on the lawn of Bloomfield City Hall violated the establishment clause of the First Amendment, and must be removed by the city by September 10, 2014. The lawsuit was filed in 2012 by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of New Mexico on behalf of two Bloomfield residents who objected to the monument, believing it to be an unconstitutional endorsement of a particular religion.

EL PASO, TX—The University Medical Center of El Paso and emergency room physicians have paid a New Mexico woman $1.1 million for their role in the traumatic body cavity searches she suffered at the facility, announced the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of New Mexico and the ACLU of Texas today. The hospital has also agreed to review recent revisions to its internal policies governing law enforcement searches with ACLU lawyers. According to charges in a lawsuit filed in December of last year, medical professionals performed the highly invasive searches without a warrant at the behest of U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agents.“We are very pleased that the hospital has taken steps to alleviate the great wrong done to our client,” said ACLU of New Mexico cooperating attorney Laura Schauer Ives. “We hope this settlement will stand as a powerful

Report Shows Injustice, Suffering, Caused by SWAT Teams Deployed for Low-Level Police Work, Not Crises

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ALBUQUERQUE, NM—Today, Albuquerque community leaders and a broad spectrum of New Mexico-based organizations announced the launch of the APD Forward campaign, a community-driven effort to hold the City of Albuquerque and the Albuquerque Police Department (APD) accountable for implementing reforms of the city’s police department. APD Forward will serve as a powerful, targeted platform for Albuquerque communities to press for sustainable reforms of APD policies and procedures.