New Mexico

ICE detention center proposed for rural Wyoming town with no immigration attorneys

A private company has proposed to build an immigration detention center outside Evanston, Wyoming—a town that reportedly has no immigration lawyers and is more than an hour away from the nearest immigration court in Salt Lake City. The jail proposal is from the Management & Training Corporation, a Utah contractor…

Jan 9, 2018 11:42 AM CST

When a mental health emergency lands you in jail

Early last year, two suicidal patients showed up at a hospital emergency room in Pierre, South Dakota, seeking help. Although the incidents happened weeks apart, both patients ended up in an unexpected place: jail. Across the country, and especially in rural areas, people in the middle of a mental health…

Sep 25, 2017 7:00 AM CDT

Relatives of undocumented children caught up in ICE dragnet

This summer, a Kansas City man named Edwin got a call from immigration officials. They had picked up his nephew at the southern border and wanted to release the teen into his care. So Edwin went online and bought a bed. Later that week, he was contacted again, this time…

Sep 12, 2017 3:45 PM CDT

Legal aid agency serving the Navajo Nation to close 3 offices

A legal aid office serving a heavily Navajo clientele is shutting three of its nine offices for financial reasons, the Santa Fe New Mexican reported Thursday. DNA-People’s Legal Services is responding to several years in which its expenses fell short of revenues. Santa Fe City Councilor Peter Ives, a member…

Aug 21, 2017 4:00 PM CDT

Serial ADA suits operated like ‘a carnival shell game,’ depriving plaintiff of proceeds, judge says

Ninety-nine lawsuits claiming New Mexico businesses violated the Americans with Disabilities Act should be tossed, according to a recommendation by a federal magistrate judge. Chief U.S. Magistrate Judge Karen Molzen said the “boilerplate complaints” were primarily filed for an improper purpose and they should be tossed under standards for in…

Jul 13, 2017 7:00 AM CDT

Amazon disputes report that Alexa called 911 during a domestic assault

Sheriff’s deputies in Bernalillo County, New Mexico, were crediting digital assistant Alexa on Monday with initiating a emergency call during a domestic assault–but it couldn’t have happened, according to a later statement by device-maker Amazon. Alexa doesn’t have the capability to call 911, according to a statement issued by Amazon.…

Jul 12, 2017 11:04 AM CDT

Justice Department probes alleged abuses on prison transport vans

The Justice Department has opened a preliminary investigation into allegations of abuse by the nation’s largest for-profit extradition company, according to a Colorado man who said he was recently contacted by the agency. Joseph Mondragon said he received a call within the past month from a man who identified himself…

Jun 8, 2017 11:17 AM CDT

New Mexico’s top court should acknowledge excessive PD workloads and craft remedy, ABA says

An amicus brief filed by the ABA says the New Mexico Supreme Court should acknowledge public defenders have excessive caseloads in Lea County and craft a remedy that considers lawyers’ ethical obligations.

Jun 6, 2017 11:12 AM CDT

Public defender is found in contempt for refusing cases; DA asks state supreme court to intervene

New Mexico’s chief public defender has been found in contempt of court and fined $5,000 for refusing to provide lawyers to represent criminal defendants in five cases because of his office’s high caseloads. Judge Gary Clingman of Lea County imposed a fine of $1,000 for each case, but said he…

Dec 1, 2016 2:16 PM CST

Officer has immunity for arresting teen for belching at school, 10th Circuit rules

A police officer who arrested an Albuquerque middle school student for repeatedly fake burping during gym class was entitled to qualified immunity, a federal appeals court has ruled. The Denver-based 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled (PDF) in the case of a 13-year-old student, “F.M.,” whose arrest was based…

Jul 29, 2016 8:50 AM CDT

New Mexico top court overturns conviction due to Skype testimony, warns judges about social media

The New Mexico Supreme Court is warning judges about the perils of social media in an opinion that nonetheless sidesteps whether the trial judge’s Facebook posts indicated bias. The New Mexico Supreme Court ruled (PDF) on June 20 that Truett Thomas was entitled to a new trial on a murder…

Jun 23, 2016 7:00 AM CDT

Flat fees for contract public defenders are not unconstitutional, New Mexico Supreme Court says

The Supreme Court of New Mexico ruled Thursday that the state is free to pay flat fees to attorneys contracted as public defenders, the Santa Fe New Mexican reported. But Chief Justice Barbara Vigil wrote a separate concurrence to emphasize that the public defender system needs adequate funding if it…

Jun 6, 2016 6:45 AM CDT

Strange things occur at New Mexico courthouse, and a ghost is blamed

Some employees believe a ghost is responsible for unexplained activity at the Otero County Courthouse in Alamogordo, New Mexico. Some report seeing a ghost wearing a suit from the early 1900s, doors closing on their own, and items falling to the ground for no reason, KRQE News 13 reports. The…

May 27, 2016 6:15 AM CDT

New Mexico sues EPA, seeking cleanup of toxic mine spill and damages

Ordinarily, when there’s a dispute about claimed environmental damage due to corporate operations, it’s the Environmental Protection Agency that sues to get it cleaned up. But a lawsuit filed Monday by the state of New Mexico in federal court in Albuquerque names the EPA as a defendant, along with an…

May 24, 2016 1:00 PM CDT

Former mayor’s old Facebook page should be reopened, says judge, because it may have public info

The Facebook page of a former mayor is public record, says a New Mexico court. Now she needs to figure out how to reactivate the account, which has been shut down. “Hopefully everything is still there,” Stephen Thies, the Alamogordo City attorney, told the Santa Fe New Mexican. The city…

May 3, 2016 10:30 AM CDT