News & Commentary

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

ALBUQUERQUE, NM—Today, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of New Mexico filed an Inspection of Public Records Request (IPRA) with the New Mexico Law Enforcement Academy (NMLEA) seeking the training standards and lesson plans used to train officers. This records request comes after the academy director publicly vowed to “burn” any training materials before releasing them to the public.

Deaths and Injuries in CBP encounters from January 2010  to Feb. 19, 2014 (including off-duty incidents and when CBP was acting as backup)

 

 httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tGtq95lsw1A&feature=youtu.be ALBUQUERQUE, NM—Today, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and the ACLU of New Mexico unveiled a new marriage equalit

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – New Mexico Second Judicial District Judge Nan Nash today issued a landmark decision that terminally ill, mentally competent patients have a fundamental right to aid in dying under the substantive due process clause of the New Mexico State Constitution. This ruling protects the medical practice from prosecution in Bernalillo County, New Mexico. If affirmed, the ruling will impact the entire state.

SANTA FE, NM—Today, in a unanimous decision, the New Mexico Supreme Court ruled that the New Mexico Constitution requires the state to allow same-sex couples to marry. The court ruled that county clerks must issue marriage licenses to otherwise qualified same-sex couples and that the State of New Mexico must respect the marriages of all same-sex couples, including those who married before today’s decision. The plaintiff couples were represented by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of New Mexico, the national ACLU, the National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR), the law firm of Sutin, Thayer & Browne APC, and New Mexico attorneys Maureen Sanders, N. Lynn Perls, and J. Kate Girard.

EL PASO, TX – Agents with U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CPB), working with medical professionals, subjected a U.S. citizen to a series of highly invasive searches—including rectal and vaginal probes—without a warrant, according to charges in a lawsuit filed today by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Texas and the ACLU of New Mexico. CBP agents frisked and strip-searched the plaintiff at a border checkpoint, then transported her in handcuffs to the University Medical Center of El Paso, where doctors subjected her to an observed bowel movement, X-ray, speculum exam, rectal exam, vaginal exam, and a CT scan.  After a period of six hours of fruitless searches, the agents released the plaintiff without charge. “What is truly frightening about this incident is that it could have happened to anyone,” said ACLU-NM Legal Director Laura Schauer Ives. “The failed drug war and militarized border region have created an environment in which law enforcement officials increasingly inflict extreme and illegal searches on innocent Americans. We need to ensure that no one is ever again subjected to a nightmare like our client suffered.” The plaintiff, a 54 year old woman from New Mexico, was attempting to return to the U.S. from Mexico via a bridge in El Paso. She is deeply traumatized by the cavity searches  government agents forced her to endure and continues to suffer emotional and psychological after effects. “Securing the border has become an excuse for outright abandonment of Constitutional principles that protect our privacy and dignity,” said Adriana Piñon, senior staff attorney at the ACLU of Texas.  “Enough is enough. The hand of the government should never have unfettered power to invade our most intimate bodily spaces.” The suit comes as the nation debates a “border surge” that would further militarize border communities despite strong criticism of increased civil rights abuses along the border.  ACLU affiliates and other civil rights advocates along the Southwest border have challenged a pattern of unlawful conduct by local and federal law enforcement personnel this year: In November, 2013 an Albuquerque civil rights law firm

NMPA files amicus brief in Morris v. New Mexico in support of expanded end of life choices